Clockwork Little Madness
by Empressimperia
Summary: Part 2 of the ROBP Trilogy. In the aftermath of a deadly attack on Bogo, Judy races to save Nick from a similar fate. Benjamin struggles for survival as the truth behind the grisly murders is uncovered. Jack and Alyssa find a lead on Dr. Slothfeld. Gabe searches for the mother of his child. Swinton and Commissioner Elba contend with a gang war and a city-wide terrorist attack.
1. Prologue the Fourth: Swinton

_"Everything is set, right? You tied up everything, right? All those loose ends? Good. Good, good, good. It's up to you now, Tilly. Protect the collars. No matter what it takes."_

That had been the last thing Theodore Swinton had told his daughter before being taken to his final resting place in the Swinton family's hometown of Piggeton, Boaregon. Tilda had far too much on her plate, in between her political battle with Bitchwether and keeping an eye on her asset up on Founder's Mountain, to set up and attend a funeral that far away, so they'd had an extravagant ceremony in the Savanna Central Cathedral before Theodore was sent on his way. Tilda had watched with dry eyes as the rosewood coffin was slid into the hearse and disappeared forever into the distance, painfully aware that there was too much at stake to waste time grieving.

Even months later, as she sat alone in her office awaiting news that the fox Nicholas Wilde and his cronies had been recaptured, she had so many different things on her mind she was resorting to writing down potential strategies on the back of a paid electricity bill. Reflected in the black computer screen nearby was the city skyline behind her, dim as night and speckled with window lights. She should have gone home hours ago, but her thinking worked best when she was sitting on the blood red chair behind the mayor's desk, big enough to be a throne, a reminder of the legacy she had to protect.

Swinton circled the acronym ZNN in black ink before tapping her pen on the paper, thinking how to deal with her most immediate problem.

Llamadeus had used all his influence as the de-facto head of Zootopia News Network to sway the public's opinion, but Tilda could no longer deny the truth in her heart; times had changed. Mammals no longer believed in the TAME Collars anymore. Thousands still did, but a rapidly growing fraction of the populace was demanding an alternative system to put an end to the accidents. The catastrophic pileup on the Iceberg Arch Bridge had been a 'wake-up call' for many, as the smaller papers not under Llamadaeus's control had put it, making them realize that the pros no longer outweighed the cons. Over the last several months every press conference had included at least one nosy parker demanding an answer from the Mayor concerning these claims.

_Bullshit._

That was Swinton's answer, the crude word ringing in her head but never leaving her mouth. Instead she would follow the script she would write a day before each conference, giving every assurance that steps were being taken to curb the accidents while insisting that the collars were still necessary. The fox's disastrous illegal theme park was proof of that. Removing the collars on a regular basis had inevitably led to predators reverting back to their primitive savage ways, and restored some faith in Swinton's policies.

But it wasn't enough. Only last week the spark of a collar zapping a wolf had caused a small explosion at a gas station. Making the fox a scapegoat had solved half of her problem, but it was up to the sloth on Founder's Mountain to solve the other.

Swinton wrote down the possibility of absorbing the other news companies, which would give ZNN and by extension the mayor more control over what was released to the public. Money would be required, a lot of money. More unethical coercion would be required for the more stubborn enterprises, but Llamadaeus was ruthless enough to handle that. She would call him as soon as it was late enough to call him without disturbing his sleep. Meadowlands Gazette, the newspaper currently under Bitchwether's control, was out of the question, but once the reelection was over Swinton would make them regret exposing what had really happened to Captain Mansa Bogo.

Swinton's reaction to reading the article that morning had been regretfully undignified, and the papers that had been sent to receive her signature were still scattered across the carpet. The pig blamed it on her growing frustration with her rival; she couldn't just have that miniature ewe disposed of. In the current political climate even a genuine accident would turn suspicious eyes towards the mammal who had the most to gain from her death. Swinton could have Pottermass arrange a frameup, but there was the risk of the elite officers of Precinct One figuring it out. That conceited hedonist Bisoniing would probably just try to get her into bed with him.

"Bitch." Swinton had used that phrase so much it had unofficially become her personal nickname for Dawn Bellwether. Ever since Carlton Woolton died his ex-girlfriend had dedicated her campaign to turning the public against Swinton's TAME Collar policy. It was clear that she still had no love for predators, and she was planning to abolish the collars solely to destroy Theodore's legacy, but at this point she was succeeding.

But not for long, Swinton thought with a sneer. Bitchwether's arrogance was misplaced. She may be popular now, but in the long run Swinton would retain her place at the mayor's desk. If that ewe thought she could displace the family that has ruled Zootopia for three generations, she had god-damn well think again.

She wrote down 'Mark II' and linked it with a line to 'cheetah.' Mark II was the codename for the assassin she had summoned to replace Carlton.

_Carlton..._ Swinton closed her eyes and bit her lip until his face was successfully pushed out her mind. She had liked him, true, and she was fairly sure the amicability had been mutual, but there was no good in dwelling on what had happened to him. She'd get nowhere in avenging his death that way.

The day Carlton had entered Swinton's employ, he had given her a ragged slip of paper bearing a phone number and the name 'Doug Ramses.' Ramses was the cousin Carlton had trained beside before they'd parted ways, Carlton going on to serve Swinton and Ramses going on to become a mercenary for hire. "Just in case something happens to me." He'd told her simply.

When something happened to Carlton, Swinton had called the number the next day. Ramses had not taken the news well. Swinton had endured five minutes of profanities and the sounds of things being broken before Ramses had agreed to come to Zootopia and become the Wolf in his cousin's place.

When the ram had showed up in Swinton's office, the resemblance to the late Carlton had almost made Swinton lose her composure. Ramses had been wearing a wrist brace at the time and his nose looked broken, from a bad fall as he'd explained, but he'd assured her that he was more than capable of finishing Carlton's work. When she'd offered a fee, Ramses had told her to keep it. All he wanted was the right to kill the mammal responsible for his cousin's death. Swinton had agreed immediately and less than a day later another predator had turned savage.

Even with a wrist brace, Ramses had proved more than equal to his task. With predators going savage at an increasing pace, prey were beginning to have more faith in Swinton, especially after she had announced the impending introduction of a new TAME Collar that did not shock the wearer. Even his results at the Arctic House had been satisfactory, despite his failure to eliminate the cheetah; he would have killed Clawhauser with the first shot if the window hadn't been bullet-resistant, something they'd had no way of knowing. At this moment he was on his way to the safe house to finish the job.

Swinton drummed her fingers as she glared down at the acronym ZPD on the paper. Branching from the circled initials were the word TUSK and BOGO, and both were being problematic in their own way. T.U.S.K. had lost too many mammals because of that damned bear in the plague doctor mask, and before that they had been making no progress in tracking down that shifty devil-fox. Then there was Cunninghorn's conduct in general. Trunchbull had been right about Cunninghorn. He may be a competent officer, but he didn't have the pragmatism or diplomacy to be a chief. Retiring Commissioner Elba would have to wait, and even then Swinton didn't think she could bring herself to force that on the water buffalo. Elba was nearing the end of his fifties, but alas he was too competent to part with.

As for Captain Mansa Bogo, Swinton didn't know if he was a solution or a problem. His grudge against City Hall for twisting the truth five years ago was only a hindrance because there was too much benefit in electing him as Chief over Cunninghorn. Whereas Cunninghorn's loyalty was to himself, Bogo's loyalty was to the city. If Swinton agreed to have him elected as Chief of Police, Cunninghorn's loyalty would surely waver. Ever since Trunchbull had made his feelings toward the rhino clear, Cunninghorn had become increasingly mercurial. Or stupid, as Swinton would say if she hadn't known what mercurial meant. Maybe becoming the new Head of Security at Slothfeld's facility would make him feel important again. If he weren't up to that task, well…

Swinton wrote down the possibility, then wrote down and circled the name 'Fox.'

Nicholas Wilde… the only predator to have regained his sanity after being shot with Dr. Slothfeld's serum. Swinton had called Slothfeld countless times to demand an explanation, and it had taken the sloth a few hours to give an explanation. Like many drugs developed from plant life, the serum was not one hundred percent predictable. There were bound to be anomalies, unusual reactions, as the case may have been with Wilde. His recovery had the same probability as a plane crashing. This hadn't satisfied Swinton at all, and she'd brought up the possibility that the fox had been given an antidote. Slothfeld had merely replied that he would investigate.

_Egotistical little prick…_ Swinton thought as she connected a line from 'Fox' to 'Hopps,' who despite her minimal experience and species had come the closest out of anyone to recapturing Wilde. Twice. Maybe comparing her to Cunninghorn would give him the incentive he needed to try harder. Better yet, Swinton could increase her support of the young rabbit, which would surely gain more of the public's favor if Hopps succeeded. Letting such a small mammal join the ZPD would have been anathema to Theodore Swinton, back when he was the city's leader. He had spent his entire life fighting the unclean, lovely, greedy image of the stereotypical pig, and he never would have permitted a cute, skittish little bunny rabbit to surpass him. Swinton would list all the times she was reminded to always be ten minutes late to a dinner party, wait for the host to unfold their napkin first, or never ask for her glass to be topped up, but even she couldn't count that high.

So many ideas, so many plans… it was a wonder she could think at all considering she had an empty bottle of red wine in the trash can. She blamed the civil war in Tundratown for that. There was a sliver of a silver lining to that one, thanks to ZNN. The subtle insinuation that the new TAME Collars would bring the Koslov and Mr. Big's little gangsters under control had managed score some political points for Swinton in spite of the Meadowland Gazette's efforts. Even so Swinton now had two wars to battle, and it was enough to turn her to drink, especially when it became apparent that there may be a third war on the horizon.

The horrific assault on Boris Antlerson. The nightmarish lobotomy on the psychiatrist Dr. Lemming. Her Assistant Mayor being eaten alive. The decomposing bodies of the John Does on Founder's Mountain. Finally, the attempted murder of Benjamin Clawhauser by Carlton's killer during the gunfight at the Arctic House. The instant she'd learned that Sedor Valentino was the killer she'd called Slothfeld demanding an explanation. Slothfeld, in his irritatingly smooth, smug voice, admitting that three members of staff at the facility had tried to steal information to sell to the highest bidder and released the insane Sedor as a distraction. Slothfeld had decided it would be a perfect opportunity to give the new collars a field test. Two more test subjects had been sent out, completely under the collars' control. They'd hunted down the three traitors and killed them, but were unable to track down the escaped Sedor before he murdered Lemming and Carlton. Fed up of his twaddle, Swinton had given Slothfeld forty-eight hours to retrieve Sedor dead or alive before handing up on him.

Thank God Jack Savage was in the hospital when all this was happening. Swinton diverted her train of thought to the striped rabbit who held the future of the collars in his paws. When she'd spoken with a reprehensibly hungover Bisoniing over brunch, he'd given her some intriguing gossip; while he was pleasuring himself at the Palm Hotel, he'd seen Savage doing the same with an arctic vixen. The stone-hearted rabbit was not so above it all, it seemed. If he decided to report to his superiors that the collars had to be abolished, maybe the threat of his predophilic tendencies becoming public would change his mind…

Or perhaps it wouldn't. Perhaps Bisoniing had been so intoxicated with booze and lust that he'd misunderstood the situation. Swinton rubbed her temple, and not for the first time, wished that she was still in Roarcadia. Things had been simpler back then. She hadn't had to deal with gluttonous hedonists and foolish activists back then. It had just been her, her family, and Morgan.

Morgan Elba, the King Arthur enthusiast she'd known since childhood, who always seemed to know what to do. Who helped her escape the irradiated city in one piece.

_Damn Liberum. Damn them and damn that traitor, Koobus..._

Someone knocked on the doors at a frantic pace. Swinton quickly slid her mind map into her lap out of sight. "Come in!"

Her bespectacled secretary Felix Llater burst through the doors and stopped halfway across the office. "Mayor Swinton!" He gasped.

Swinton held up a hoof, keeping Llater at bay so he wouldn't smell the wine. "This had better be important."

"There's been an attack at Clawhauser's safe house! The cheetah, he-"

"Oh God, no." Swinton breathed, savoring the news that the feline was no longer in danger of remembering that Cartlon had been bearing a wolf mask and pellet gun at the time of his murder.

_Stupid little boy. If you just hadn't gone into the staff area we might have left you alone…_

"He's unharmed, but Captain Bogo… he was found in the living room with his throat cut."

The air conditioning in the large office seemed to go chillier by several degrees. "What did you say?" Swinton asked frigidly.

"Captain Bogo was found with his throat cut." Llater said slowly. "They don't yet know what he was doing there, and all the officers guarding the safe house are dead."

"What about Commander Cunninghorn?" Swinton knew the rhino was supposed to be there to help sneak Ramses past the guards at the front entrance. Surely Cunninghorn would have stopped Bogo from going up to the penthouse. After all, that was the other part of his task.

"Missing. He was last seen at a bar in Savanna Central."

Swinton let her mind map slip from her thighs as she stood up, bearing a mask of tranquil fury even as her mind screamed every profanity she knew. Bogo wasn't supposed to be there. No other officer was supposed to be there. When Commissioner Elba hears of this…

"Call my chauffer. We're going to Precinct One."


	2. Prologue the Fifth: Elba

Commissioner Morgan Elba's shiny metal cane tapped across wooden planks of the deck as the water buffalo paced about his back lawn. The sun had set about an hour ago, so his visitor shouldn't be long now. Him and his little surprise.

The wind was picking up, not quite stormy but cold enough to drive Elba into the conservatory attached to his house. He had a pot of herbal tea waiting for him on the glass table, and he filled a blue mug Starlight had given him the year before she left.

He kept his eyes on the fence bordering the wall outside as he sipped. At any moment Gabriel Mossberg would vault over the white planks and make a perfect landing on the grass.

He heard the doorbell ringing from the front of the house. Elba sighed, hoping his other visitor did not intend to go any farther than the doormat, and tapped his way through the house and to the door. He stopped when he saw the door, looked through the round window and recognized the mammal on the other side.

He quickly strode up and opened the door.

"What in God's name are you doing coming through the front?" Was all Elba got out before his eyes turned downward and he saw Gabe's surprise. "Oh."

Gabe's surprise was beginning to fuss. "Are you going to let me in or not?"

Elba snorted. "I don't know. When was the last time you changed him?"

"Elba…"

Elba chuckled and stepped aside to let the feline/fox hybrid enter. The warmth of the house soon put a stop to the infant's fussing. The water buffalo had no doubt as to whom the parents were. A bittersweet feeling welled up inside him. Now that Starlight bore a child, she was one step closer to putting her dangerous lifestyle behind them. On the other hoof, the fact that she wasn't here with her husband and son could only mean one thing.

"What's his name?" Elba guided Gabe to the couches in the next room.

Gabe gently bounced the baby in the blue outfit. "Until I get Starlight back and we discuss the matter properly, his name is Lance."

"After King Arthur's knight?"

Gabe rolled his eyes. "Why is it that every time I tell someone his name they automatically assume he's named after Lancelot?"

"I believe the fact that the name is diminutive of Lancelot has something to do with it." Elba retrieved his mug and pot from the nearby conservatory and returned with a smile. "That's probably why your grandparents named your father."

"I highly doubt that." Gabe accepted the mug, holding the baby with one arm as he drank.

Elba's smile widened as he remembered the look of pure disgust on young Starlight's face when she had tried tea for the first time. He sat down on an armchair beside the feline. "I suppose it's for the best that he isn't named after Lancelot. Arthur's reign might have lasted a little bit longer if his best knight hadn't decided to take a slice of the queen."

Gabe's face turned blank. Elba tilted his head. "I'm talking about an affair, Gabriel."

"Oh."

"Though there is a version of the legend where Lancelot executed the formerly named Gwenhwyfar and entombed Sir Mordred with her body, which he consumed bit by bit until he eventually died of starvation."

By now Gabe had laid his paw over his face. "Is there a _point_ to this conversation?"

"I'm making you uncomfortable while at the same time admiring the child you and Starlight created." Elba reached out and stroked the baby's cheek. His spots were lighter than the rest his fur, creamy white like Starlight's. "Can I hold him?"

Gabe wordlessly held out the infant. He was small, much more so than a water buffalo calf, but that didn't change how adorable he was. Elba held little Lance in the crook of his arm and looked back to Gabe.

"You'd be my son-in-law had society allowed me to adopt Starlight, so I may as well treat you like one."

"Christ on a bike, Elba." Gabe muttered, though it was clear he appreciated the sentiment.

Elba leaned back in his chair, his mind turning to more worrying thoughts. "Have you located her yet at least?"

Gabe shook his head. "I still can't remember where they kept us. I've attracted a few allies since we last spoke, so at least I'm not the only one who's looking for her."

"And you still can't tell me what made her disappear in the first place?"

Gabe looked pained as he gazed at the older mammal. "The only reason you've never had spies knocking on your door…" He frowned at the look Elba gave him. "You know what I mean! Anyway, the reason you don't have spies watching your back is that you don't know too much. The only reason I'm here is that I know Starlight would have wanted you to know about Lance. Trust me, you'll be a lot safer worrying about the gang war in Tundratown."

"Yes, there are reports of a mammal matching your description being present at that horrible business at the Arctic House. A predator who killed dozens of his own kind before escaping in a stolen police car." Elba eyed the feline.

Gabe's arms curled around Lance protectively. "So am I a fugitive?"

"As much a fugitive as your father was when he escaped the massacre of his fellow terrorists in the capital. He was never publicly identified either." Elba paused. "It's a pity he met an early grave anyway. Forgive me, that must still be a sore subject for you."

Gabe hid his sorrow by gulping his tea until the mug was almost completely hiding his face. "I keep thinking about what I did to those predators… and to Antlerson. They were criminals, I know, and your people would have probably killed them yourselves at that shootout. But I wish it had never came to that."

Elba made his way to the cabinet where he kept his stronger beverages and picked out a half-full bottle of whiskey. "I think those words every time a hostage situation or some other calamity ends in death and destruction. I've thought those words every single day since Roarcadia. But all we can do is live with it and convince ourselves that our actions at the time were necessary." He poured glass and gave it to Gabe. "You may regret the horrendous damage you did to Antlerson, but you would have regretted it far more had you left him in any condition to continue abducting little boys and girls, I can promise you that."

"But now I've got every officer in the city hunting for his attacker. If they find out you know who attacked Antlerson and kept that from them, you could be incarcerated or worse."

"Then let us hope we can trust each other to stay silent. And you are not the only one being hunted."

"Yeah, I saw that fox at the Arctic House. He must have been the reason Koslov's goons were there in the first place."

"And he escaped in a stolen police car, just like you did." Elba said pointedly. Gabe cringed and opened his mouth to defend himself, but Elba cut him off. "Don't say another word on the matter, Gabriel. I will trust your judgment for now, but I expect you to keep a very close eye on him. But the fox is not who I'm talking about. In case you haven't heard, Antlerson disappeared as soon as he was discharged. The ZPD are currently seeking him out concerning several issues concerning his and Woolton's versions of events."

Gabe looked sharply up from the glass of whiskey in his paw. "They're actually doubting what happened?"

"Well, some of them are. Apparently a surgeon and that visiting government agent Jack Savage both pointed out that the injuries inflicted on Antlerson don't suit a savage attack. Neither did the supposed scene of the crime."

Gabe slowly lowered the whiskey onto the coffee table. "Do they have any suspects?"

"I'm afraid not, but whoever you believe is behind Antlerson's abduction of that little girl, trust me, the situation in this city is as precarious for them as it is for you."

Gabe drank the last of the whiskey. "I know you well enough to know you're going to offer to take Lance and Sherry off my paws until I find Starlight. You know why I can't do that. If the wrong people find two intended test subjects hidden in your house, all three of you will be in danger."

Elba nodded sadly. "And if I make the offer anyway?"

Gabe shook his head. "I should go. I've got to get Lance back home and Starlight still needs me. Thanks for the tea and whiskey."

"And thank you for telling me about Lance." Elba reluctantly returned the baby and led Gabe to the door. He stopped before opening it. "Can't you at least tell me why someone wants the fox and cheetah dead?"

"They both saw too much. That's all I can say. You will look after him, won't you?"

"Of course."

"And don't trust anyone from T.U.S.K. A group of them tried to kill Wilde, and he wasn't even carrying a penknife."

Elba narrowed his eyes. "Understood." He opened the door, giving one last warm glance at the little boy in Gabriel's arms as he stepped outside. "I'm glad you're naming the boy after your father. He may technically have been a terrorist once, but he was a better mammal than the original Lancelot ever was."

The tingling of his phone immediately followed the sound of the door closing behind Gabe. Morgan Elba irritably tapped his cane on the floor as he answered and heard Chief Truchbull's voice.

His blood ran colder with each distraught word that came through the receiver.

"My God."


	3. Prologue the Sixth: Cunninghorn

Commander Franklin Cunninghorn of Precinct One's T.U.S.K. Squad felt good. He felt very, very good.

It wasn't just that his favorite spot in Blue's Bar, a navy blue bar stool situated right in front of the massive poster of Gazelle in her skimpiest red skirt and top, was empty when he barged through the doors. It wasn't that his favorite brand of music was playing either. No, it was something much more satisfying.

As he crossed the doormat he spotted Lieutenant McHorn with a drink on a round table. He almost didn't see the cutesy rookie Officer Hopps sitting beside him, her silly long ears the first part of her that caught his eye. Cunninghorn planted his coat on the barstool to mark his spot and made his way over to them; the sooner he made his presence known to them, the better.

"Talk about a small world after all!" He said loudly, turning all three heads on the table. McHorn glared at the approaching rhino. Hopps wasn't so hostile, but she still didn't look happy to see him. Cunninghorn was in too good a mood to let that bother him, and besides, he had already decided that once he became chief, they would be the first to go. He reached the table and looked down on them all. "Look, I can see that some of you are running near empty, so how about I head to the bar and get another round for you."

He began to turn toward the bar, but then McHorn's harsh response cut through the musical atmosphere. "We're not drinking anything that you order!"

Cunnghorn kept a smile plastered on his face, thinking of the bloodied murder weapon lying in a dumpster two blocks from here. "Suit yourself. Bogo likes Grasshoppers, doesn't he? I'll get one ready for him."

"Well, Bogo's not here!" Hopps fired back. "He's with the key witness that you've been forbidden from approaching with a fifty foot celery stick!"

Cunninghorn kept smiling. These two fuckers had no idea…

"Hey, take it easy with the country-bun puns, Hopps. At least tell me what I did to piss you off."

"Piss us off?" McHorn leaned over the table, eyes blazing. "You ordered your men to fire on our position!"

_Oh, that._ "I actually ordered them to fire at the bear, and no-one got hit, right?" McHorn and Hopps's glares deepened. Cunninghorn backed off a step. "Look, I take full responsibility for that fuck-up, I really do. I made a mistake. But in case you've forgotten we took far more losses than you did."

The reminder of that horror show the bear in the plague doctor mask had unleashed with that grenade launcher cast a shadow over the glares of the two officers at the table. The sight made Cunninghorn reconsider their future-firing just so he could see those looks more often. He turned his full attention to Hopps, the token rabbit who had gained Mayor Swinton's favor. Cunninghorn couldn't understand how she had managed to impress Swinton, given that she had failed the capture the elusive fox just as much as T.U.S.K. had. All the same, if Hopps was going to join the ranks of Swinton's secret police, then Cunninghorn had better build bridges with her while he still could.

"Officer Judith Hopps, right?"

"Yes?" Hopps asked warily.

"I have a real good feeling that you're going places, Hopps. Remember Little Rodentia? You were the only one who could get in there without causing massive collateral damage. Six minutes later you brought back a sniveling weasel and forty thousand dollars in stolen jewelry. And then Bogo dragged you to his office and chewed your ass for twelve minutes straight." Hopps' mouth became a thin line as she stared up at the rhino who wouldn't stop smiling. "See you tomorrow, Hopps."

He returned to his favorite bar stool, sat down and ordered a Bloody Mary. It wasn't a drink he ordered often, but considering his tremendous accomplishment less than an hour ago a Bloody Mary couldn't have been more appropriate.

Some time later the door opened again. Reflected in the mirror behind the bar was Dr. Kathryn 'Kathy' Bogo, uppity older sister to the later Mansa, crossing the floor behind Cunninghorn.

"Kathy!" McHorn called, sounded much more happy to see her compared to his hostile reception to Cunninghorn's presence. "Come sit down!"

Kathryn reached the table but remained standing. Cunninghorn tried to refrain from obviously watching them through the mirror. "I haven't been able to make some time to see Higgins. How is he?"

"He'll be discharged soon, but he won't be able to go back on duty until he's given the all clear on his concussion." McHorn nodded. "At least he wasn't shot. Anyway, I'm just here to catch up with Mansa."

Hopps lifted herself higher above the tabletop. "He's not here."

Kathryn looked puzzled. "Well, he said he had to take care of some business with Cunninghorn, but he hasn't called back."

McHorn scowled. "But Cunninghorn's over there. He's been here for about ten minutes."

Kathryn paused. "Then where's Mansa?"

Cunninghorn grinned into his bloody crimson drink as McHorn pulled out his phone.

He supposed it all started the day he and Bogo had come to verbal blows over what to do with the pudgy cheetah after he became a witness to Woolton's gruesome murder. Bogo, who would have personally cuffed and muzzled Clawhauser five years ago, had demanded that the cheetah be kept out of a cell, and Chief Trunchbull, inexplicably, had sided with him. Some nonsense about protecting the reputation of the ZPD. Typical politician posing as a cop, and Commissioner Elba was worse. They always spouted bullshit about putting the city above themselves, but Cunninghorn could see right through them. Anyway, Cunninghorn had let his raging resentment get the better of him. He'd accused Trunchbull of playing favorites. The exchange following Bogo's dismissal from the office had left a smoldering hole where his pride had been.

He could still remember it as though it had happened only this morning. Trunchbull had carefully closed his office door and turned to the rhino still in his seat.

"Tell me, Cunninghorn? What exactly have you done for this city?"

Cunninghorn had straightened himself in his chair. "I joined the ZPD long before Bogo. I outrank him. You personally promoted me to Commander of T.U.S.K. I have arrested more predators than any other officer in this city."

"And put most of them in the hospital or the ground." Trunchbull had said coldly.

"Deadly force is more necessary when it comes to predators, you know this." Cunninghorn had said. "The riot at Wild Times and the civil war in Tundratown proves it. Bogo's gotten soft for that cheetah. You know that bleeding heart of his is going to hold us back from capturing the fox and the bastards who killed Woolton and Dr. Lemming. And you know that bleeding heart will do the ZPD no favors if you make him Chief of Police in your place."

"Being Chief of Police means more than just cracking down harder on predators, Commander." Trunchbull had slowly returned to his desk as he spoke. "Unlike you, Captain Bogo came to understand that. The TAME Collars are on the verge of being abolished. Do you think the use of deadly force on every predator will help Swinton's case?"

Cunninghorn had clenched his fists around the arms of the chair. "Bogo would give anything to see the collars abolished. You speak of putting the city first, at all times. Predators only make up ten percent of that population, but Bogo would sooner put them above the other ninety. Don't tell me you don't see the way he looks at that cheetah. Don't tell me he's not just protecting him out of a sense of duty. Don't tell me you want someone like that running Precinct One."

Trunchbull had stiffened in his chair. His trunk froze mid-curl. "You want to become Chief of Police based on that?"

Cunninghorn had nodded. "Mayor Swinton would find that preferable."

Trunchbull had tilted his large head up while keeping his eyes on the rhino. His ears and trunk had extended. "I will reward you with a raise once you recapture Nicholas Wilde, alive and undamaged. And if you capture the mammal or mammals responsible for the recent murders you will earn another promotion on top of that. And if Mayor Swinton approves it, we will transfer you to a position of authority in Precinct Three where you can better serve this city by overseeing the effort to end the gang war between Big and Koslov… but I would sooner burn Precinct One to the ground than let some trigger-happy Caligula do it for me."

Cunninghorn had felt both cold with shock and hot with rage. It had taken every fiber of his being to keep from exploding.

Trunchbull had stood up and pointed his trunk to the door. "Get out of my office! And the next time you accuse Captain Bogo of predophilia will be the last time I call you Commander!"

Cunninghorn had left the office as quickly as he could without running, having decided then and there that Captain Bogo had to die.

He'd planned it carefully, counting the days until Woolton's replacement Doug Ramses was scheduled to infiltrate the safe house and silence Benjamin Clawhauser. To Swinton and Ramses it would appear that Bogo had been in the wrong place at the wrong time and forced Cunninghorn to take action to keep him silent. Bogo had taken to checking on the cheetah on a regular basis, so the story wouldn't be implausible, though why the depraved prick had taken such an interest in that corpulent cheetah was beyond him. Ramses, however had not been happy. Nobody else should have been there, especially the masked chomper that had trapped him in the bathroom before he could complete his mission. Cunninghorn was just happy that they had someone to blame for the deaths of Bogo and his pet pred.

Cunninghorn played dumb when Kathryn approached him, demanding the whereabouts of her baby brother, doing his best not to grin as he remembered the moment he'd slid that knife across Bogo's jugular. The look of blank shock on his face had been positively exquisite, and Cunninghorn's only regret was that he'd had to help Ramses disappear unseen before he could watch the buffalo die. He wished he could have stayed and watched, watched the light fade from Bogo's eyes as he squirmed on the floor while trying in vain to stop the blood pumping out and pooling across the boards beneath his thick skull. It would have been beautiful.

_Quit griping about it_, he thought. Bogo was dead, probably being feasted on by that bear right now. Besides, there was always the next asshole who crossed him. He would get another chance.

He downed the rest of his Bloody Mary and ordered another, while Kathryn and McHorn started getting worried and making calls.

"Trunchbull says he's not at the station." McHorn grunted.

Kathryn lowered her phone and started pacing in distress. "I just called the hospital where Higgins is staying. He's not there, either! This isn't like him, Mac!"

The ox running the bar placed the second Bloody Mary before Cunninghorn, and he immediately lowered his head to take a long, satisfying sip through the straw. A tiny grey paw shot out and shoved the straw to the other side of the grass, alerting the rhino to the bunny's presence.

"You don't seem that bothered that he's gone missing!" Hopps' foot thumped on the shiny surface of the bar as she glared up at Cunninghorn.

Cunninghorn shrugged. "You know how he is. He's probably chasing another lead. Tomorrow morning he'll be back at the station with a list of suspects as long as the Hopps Family Photo."

McHorn strode up, eyeing the shorter-horned rhino. "I just hope Big's or Koslov's boys didn't decide to go after him."

McHorn and Kathryn's phones jingled simultaneously and they stared at the screens. "Higgins." McHorn muttered. He and Kathryn read the texts in silence. Kathryn was the first to react, her eyes going fully round before she sprinted out the bar with the phone in hoof. Cunninghorn hid his smile in his glass.

"Oh God…" McHorn dropped the phone on the counter to Cunninghorn's left and leaned heavily on it, his composure broken.

"What is it, McHorn?" Judy asked anxiously from where she was standing on the right.

McHorn raised his head. "Valentino. He attacked the safe house where we were keeping Clawhauser. Bogo was there, he…"

"What? What?!" Judy was beginning to panic.

_Yeah, Mac, what?!_ Cunninghorn thought.

McHorn swallowed. "They found him and Clawhauser in the living room. Someone had cut his jugular. He's in surgery now."

Hopps gasped and ran along the bar past Cunninghorn, not noticing him deflate and raise his hand to hide the shock that had frozen his features. "Is he going to make it?! Is Ben okay?! How did Valentino find him?!"

"I don't know, but we're gonna find out! Come on, Hopps!" McHorn growled. Hopps jumped down from the bar and followed McHorn to the exit.

Cunninghorn remained rooted on the bar stool, sucking liquid red courage from his Bloody Mary until the straw was sucking on air. When he was sure McHorn and Hopps were long gone, he stood up and walked out.

Following them to the hospital was out of the question. There was no doubt that Trunchbull would order twenty-four police protection until Bogo was discharged, and by then he would have talked. No, Cunninghorn had to go straight home, gather as much as he could and then skip town before Precinct One learned the truth.

That wasn't the worst of it. Swinton would know as well. Cunninghorn had lured Bogo to the safe house. He'd rigged the assassination so he would have an excuse to murder his rival. He'd loused it up, and now Swinton's operation could be blown in a matter of hours.

And Swinton would know exactly who to blame.


	4. Benjamin I

One hour earlier, Benjamin Clawhauser was lying across a plush couch in a luxury penthouse, relaxing at the lack of inflammation in his arm. Maybe, just maybe, his bad luck had finally run out.

He still couldn't remember anything after being hit with the dart that caused him to collapse into a garbage bag full of pilsner glasses, not that he wanted to. Nick had told him he was finally giving up a life of crime with his new venture as a small-time medical practitioner, and asked for Benjamin's help in persuading his employer to provide the rest of the funding. The cheetah had fallen for it hook, line and sinker, and his lacerated arm was the price he'd paid for falling for Nick's lies.

This would be the last time he'd have to change the bandage, for tomorrow his stitches would be removed and he could move on to the next step of caring for his scar for the next few weeks until the healing process completed. He was looking forward to that. A shaved white patch marred by a line of black crosses holding his wound in a dark red slit was not a pretty sight. Benjamin wondered how he was going to get them removed tomorrow. Would the ZPD arrange a home visit, or would they escort him to the nearest hospital? Benjamin supposed that it didn't matter, so long as the stitches were gone by the end of the day. He'd still have the scar, of course, but even that would disappear once his fur grows back. Then there would be nothing left to remind him of the second night he'd almost died.

Maybe Captain Bogo would be there. It was a cheery thought. The barrel-chested Cape buffalo with the intimidating scowl was quite likely the only reason Benjamin had been able to cope over the last week or so. He'd seen to it that the investigation had been thorough enough to absolve Benjamin of any wrongdoing. The cheetah would probably be stuck in a cell on suspicion of murder if it weren't for him. No, scratch that. If it weren't for him, Benjamin would be dead.

Benjamin had seen something he shouldn't on that horrible rainy day in the Tundratown Bug Burga, when he'd walked up to the manager's office and caught Sedor Valentino in the act of devouring Assistant Mayor Woolton. Devouring. And now the massive grizzly bear was hunting him. He wasn't the only one. Benjamin glanced at the windows overlooking the sparkling city skyline. Bogo had promised him that the windows were resistant to bullets, just like the windows of Koslov's armored limousine. But the two bears up front had still died horribly. Messily. The sniper had yet to be identified, but the ZPD already had a small suspect list. Mr. Big or any of his associates could have hired the sniper to eliminate Koslov, who may have been the true target, but the incredible number of bullets directed at Benjamin laid a shadow of doubt over that theory. Bogo could only tell Benjamin so much about the ongoing case, but he knew that there was more to the suspect list than the buffalo was letting on.

Benjamin walked to the bathroom to dispose of the old bandage, thinking over his own suspect list. At the bottom of the list was Mr. Big, who Benjamin had never crossed paths with. Sedor and his lethal new partner with the gas mask were in the middle, considering that Benjamin was the key witness to the murder they had committed. At the top of the list was, and Benjamin did not dare say this out loud, Mr. H. P. Pottermass.

When Benjamin had been essentially transferred from cleaning duty at the Savanna Central Bug Burga to cleaning duty at the mansion of the CEO of Bug Burga's holding company Zoocell, most of his friends had warned him that the higher paid job was too good to be true. Benjamin had simply assumed that Pottermass had hired him as a PR stunt. It had soon emerged that Pottermass had more to gain from Benjamin's death than any of the other suspects on his list. Benjamin had survived the accident that killed his parents and Meredith Pottermass two years ago, and the hippo may very well have tried to correct that injustice by orchestrating another traffic accident. That theory frightened Benjamin more than any theory the ZPD had come up with, because Pottermass had more than enough wealth and power to keep trying.

The cheetah dumped the bandage in a shiny steel trashcan and switched off the light on his way out the bathroom. The lights of the city skyline shone through the blinds of the single window, projecting a silhouette that was not unlike bars. Thinking about his predicament had chilled Benjamin's feelings toward his fancy new dwellings, but he tried not to hate it. The ZPD had decided against putting him in a traditional cell, so he had better be grateful for a gilded one. Benjamin suspected that putting him here had been Bogo's idea, something the cheetah intended to thank him for the next time he came to visit.

Benjamin looked through the large living room windows, his eyes turning down to the streets far below, hoping to see a cop car come to a stop beside the skyscraper at any moment. He didn't see any, not that it surprised him. He did see a multi-colored van that reminded him of Finnick, Nick's partner in crime in the Wild Times scheme. Both were still on the run, but Benjamin had a good idea where they were. Honey had been careful enough to use a fake identity for the email's she'd sent to the computer at Wild Times, and the ZPD were still looking for an accomplice named Cass Tiles. In spite of all the lies, Benjamin couldn't bring himself to reveal the existence of Honey's bunker. The ZPD had treated him well, but Benjamin doubted they'd show the same courtesy for the shifty foxes responsible for the savage attacks still ravaging the city.

He looked at his faded reflection in the glass and giggled at the irony. He'd been taught to fear the brutal and biased ZPD for most of his life, but now he didn't know what he'd do without them.

Benjamin and his reflection jolted in fright at the rapid chatter of machine gun fire coming from outside the penthouse. He spun around and saw something he hadn't initially noticed when he'd exited the bathroom; the front door was open. His heart plummeted as he remembered the last time he'd seen a door open when it shouldn't be. There were footsteps too, rapidly approaching the open door.

Benjamin put the biggest couch between himself and the door, praying it was the ZPD. An officer indeed appeared in the doorway, one of the guards assigned to protecting the safe house. The reindeer locked eyes with Benjamin and started into the room.

Blood spurted from his temple, the unseen bullet shattering a wall lamp. The machine gun flew from his hooves and skidded to a stop beneath the small table beside the couch as he collapsed to the floor, dead.

Benjamin heard footsteps again, slower and deliberately quiet. He held his breath and ducked down behind the couch.

There was a sizeable gap between the bottom of the couch and the floor, and Benjamin peeked through it. He saw the body of the reindeer, the bottom of the doorway, and the dark feet of the wolf who walked through it.

_Oh God… oh God…_

Benjamin was scared stiff as he watched the wolf venture into the room, stepping over the dead officer. He was moving slowly, quietly. The cheetah realized with a thrill of terror that the wolf was hunting… hunting for him. The wolf stopped beside the legs of the coffee table, his ankles turning left to right as he scanned the room. Benjamin tucked his tail around his knees, begging the wolf not to come this way.

The door swung closed, and Benjamin heard the wolf slide the lock in place before he stared to cross the room in search of his quarry. Benjamin thought of the machine gun under the table less than three feet away. If he could get his paws on it without being seen or heard…

The feline began to crawl along the back of the couch, lowering his head and peeking through the hole when he was halfway to the gun. The wolf was making his way to the wide open door to the darkened bathroom. That put his back to the gun on the floor. Benjamin reached the end of the couch and stretched his uninjured arm under the table for the gun. The long barrel was barely within reach. The bruises from the limo crash protested as he pressed his body to the floor, straining to get his shoulder under the table just enough to reach the weapon. Through the gap between the couch and the table, he saw the rest of the wolf. He spied a tan trench coat and a silenced pistol. The wolf stepped into the dark bathroom. Benjamin's fingers closed around the barrel and he began to pull it from beneath the table.

The wolf turned round in the middle of the bathroom and stiffened when he finally spotted the cheetah through the gap. Benjamin froze, one paw on the gun's stock, as the wolf aimed the pistol straight at his face.

"Stand up." His muzzle barely moved as he spoke.

Benjamin slowly got to his feet, biting the inside of his cheek to keep from blubbering. He'd have peed his pants if he hadn't already relieved himself less than an hour ago, he was sure of it. This was it. This was finally it.

"Where's the fox?" The wolf said.

Benjamin immediately shook his head. "I don't know."

The wolf lowered the gun to Benjamin's gut. "Tell me and I'll spare you."

Benjamin had enough of his wits to see right through his future murderer. "No, you won't."

He braced for the worst as the wolf began to stalk toward him, so when the open door suddenly swung shut, the beast in black concealed behind it sliding a chair under the handle in a swift movement, he didn't register the sudden turn of events until the loud bang of the door startled him.

His jaw dropped and his eyes widened when they fell upon the slasher film icon known as Ghostface. The figure had the complete ensemble, black hooded robe, ghostly mask, the works. The only exception was that the knife in their gloved paw was much smaller than the carving knife from the movies.

Benjamin stared in horror at the new intruder. The real life Ghostface stared back, poising to charge at him with their blade. Three visions flashed through Benjamin's mind in that instant; Sedor in a similar ensemble ripping off a warped limo door and dragging a screaming Benjamin to his doom. Bogo launching himself at the mad monster to stop him from catching the cheetah in the burning street outside the Arctic House, putting his life on the line for a lowly predator. Finally, Benjamin picking up a revolver bigger than his paw and putting three bullets into the monster, and then firing a fourth to stop the monster from killing one of Bogo's friends.

Benjamin remembered the machine gun at his feet and picked it up faster then he'd ever moved before.

"Not this time." He growled as he aimed the gun just to the side of the approaching Ghostface.

The gun trembled violently in his paws as he pulled the trigger and the ratatatatat of the bullets was torturously loud. Ghostface ran for it, a trail of bullet holes following them as they fled. The knife dropped from their paws as they kicked the door open, the lock's chain snapping from the force. Ghostface disappeared into the dark hallway just as the gun clicked empty, and only then did Benjamin lower the weapon, panting from the exertion it had taken to keep his grip.

A bang jolted the cheetah, and he looked to the blocked bathroom door. The wolf was kicking at it from the other side. Benjamin's dry mouth struggled to swallow. With the gun empty, he couldn't stay in the penthouse or the wolf would kill him as soon as he escaped. Hoping the Ghostface was gone and they hadn't realized the gun was out of bullets, Benjamin ran around the couch, avoiding the sight of the officer's corpse as he entered the hallway.

He spotted the back of Ghostface at the end of the hall and raised the gun, but then his would-be attacker vanished around the corner. Benjamin exhaled and lowered the gun again, and that was when he heard the snort of a bear behind him.

He spun round, found himself facing a massive, living wall of black and cried out in terror as he recognized the plague doctor mask. Benjamin staggered backward down the hallway, Sedor Valentino following like a breathing shadow. The cheetah held the gun in front of him like a thin shield, on the verge of panicking until he saw light emerge out the corner of his eye. It was the open door of the only other penthouse on the floor. Benjamin's heart leapt and he pulled himself through the door, slamming it shut and sliding the lock in place. A second later Sedor slammed against the door, the force nearly sending Benjamin to the floor. He pressed his small, wide body to the door, his stomach lurching with each blow as Sedor continued the assault, growling like the savage he was. Benjamin dropped the gun, clasped his paws together, and began to pray. The hinges loosened with each jolt. Benjamin felt the door buckle against his back. At any moment the door would break loose and he would be crushed or dismembered.

Then the blows stopped coming at the same time gunfire filled the hallway outside. Benjamin heard pounding footsteps, and the gunfire stopped. He pressed his back harder against the dented door and listened. He heard slightly quieter footsteps, then voices. They sounded familiar, but too muffled to recognize. Benjamin was too afraid to open the door. He wasn't leaving this penthouse until he knew exactly who was outside.

The footsteps stopped, and then there was a crashing sound that may have come from the other apartment. It must be the wolf with the gun, finally breaking out of the bathroom. Benjamin shrank against the door at that frightening thought. More voices, then footsteps that faded away down the hallway. The cheetah thought he was finally alone, but still couldn't bring himself to turn around and open the door.

"BASTARD!"

Benjamin gasped softly. That had definitely been Mansa Bogo. There was rage in that cry, but it was the anguish that had the feline pulling the door open.

The hallway was empty, but the safe house door was slightly open. Benjamin made his way back to his gilded cell, becoming aware of the smell of blood for the first time since the terror had begun. He hoped to God it just the blood of the reindeer officer he smelled.

That hope shattered into pieces like a glass bottle on concrete when he pushed the door open and almost choked at the sight of the buffalo lying in a pool of his own blood.

"NOOO!"

He staggered in the room and collapsed to his knees beside Bogo, and that was when he saw that Bogo was still feebly stirring, trying to keep a hoof on the side of his neck. Benjamin saw the seeping cut and burst into tears, even as he grabbed the roll of bandages he'd left on the couch, violently unrolled two feet of it and pressed the rough cloth to Bogo's neck.

The buffalo's eyes flickered open as he winced and grunted weakly. Benjamin sobbed in relief and terror. "It's gonna be okay, Bogo." He whimpered as he grasped for the phone on the other end table. He strained to reach it without taking the other paw away from Bogo's jugular, but it was impossible to reach. He bit his lip, lurched to close the remaining distance, and pressed the cloth back to Bogo's neck the second the phone was in his fingers. "It's gonna be okay…"

He put the phone on speaker after dialing nine-one-one and placed it on the floor, tearfully explaining the situation as best as he could while continuing to hold the bloody cloth to the cut. On the dispatcher's instruction he turned Bogo onto his back and used his spare paw to grab cushions from the couch to elevate the legs. Before he knew it, he was leaning over Bogo and caressing his bloodied face, begging him to stay awake. Now facing up, Bogo's weary reddish brown eyes seemed to see Benjamin for the first time. They widened slightly, as though he was surprised to see him. "Hang in there, Bogo." Benjamin whimpered. "Please…"

He thought he saw Bogo smile faintly. His voice was even fainter. "Thank… God…"

When he closed his eyes and lost consciousness completely, Benjamin felt like the world had ended.


	5. Judy I

Judy burst into the waiting room and immediately spotted Bogo's disheveled older sister interrogating a pig in pale green surgical garb. She raced toward them, hearing the door slam back open as McHorn burst in after her.

"McHorn! Hopps!" Both officers stopped dead beside Chief Trunchbull, sitting alone on a line of plain metal chairs in rumpled plain clothes. Higgins was there too, a pair of pants roughly pulled up beneath his hospital gown. "It's about goddamn time!"

"We didn't hear the news until twenty minutes ago!" McHorn retorted. "How is he?"

"Still in the ER." The elephant paused. "They're a lot more confident in his chances than when they started, but they're making no promises."

Judy wiped her eyes and whispered a small prayer. Bogo couldn't die. He was the toughest mammal she ever knew. "At least there's still a chance."

Kathryn materialized between them, her eyes already streaming. They were reddish brown, like her brother's. "He said they've succeeded in suturing the jugular back together. They're closing his neck up now."

"I want police protection put on him the moment he's out of surgery, got that?" Trunchbull growled.

"Absolutely sir." McHorn spoke, his eyes dry but burning with rage. "Chief Trunchbull, where's the cheetah?"

Trunchbull held up his trunk and turned to Kathryn. "Why don't you go get yourself something to drink, Dr. Bogo? I'm sorry but I can't discuss this with a civilian present."

"I understand." Kathryn wiped her reddish brown eyes and set out to find a vending machine.

Trunchbull watched her go with sympathy. "Higgins, stay here and make sure Mayor Swinton knows where to find me. I expect she'll be paying a visit soon." He beckoned Judy and McHorn into the nearest empty room, half a corridor away from the waiting room. Somewhere far away, Judy heard someone sobbing as she walked, but no-one else appeared to hear it. It didn't sound like Kathryn, thank goodness, but it left Judy with a painful sense of foreboding.

"Where is the cheetah?" McHorn growled again as soon as the door was shut.

Trunchbull wiped his brow. "Back at the station. Commissioner Elba is overseeing his interrogation."

"And?" McHorn asked. Judy was sure she knew how he was feeling. She was growing more and more afraid that her judge of character was not as good as she thought it was.

"When paramedics arrived at the scene, they found Clawhauser kneeling over Captain Bogo..."

"Let me guess, with a bloody knife in his paw. When I get my hands on that flabby little…" McHorn snarled.

"... with a cloth applying direct pressure to the wound." Trunchbull finished.

Judy looked sharply up at McHorn as the threat died in his throat. The rhino looked too embarrassed to speak, so Judy took up the slack. "What has Clawhauser told you so far?"

"He said that a wolf was responsible for killing the officers guarding the safe house." Trunchbull answered with a grimace. "Judging from what Clawhauser has told us, this wolf intended to kill him after questioning him on Wilde's whereabouts. This suggests that he is a hitmammal working for either Big or Koslov."

"He killed six officers armed with machine guns. Sounds more like a world-class assassin if you ask me." McHorn said.

"Anyway, this is where things get murky. The wolf was ambushed by a mammal wearing a black robe and a Ghostface mask, who had clearly also intended to kill Clawhauser. Clawhauser scared them off with a gun he'd picked up from a dead officer before being attacked by Valentino himself."

"And how did all these murderers find him in the first place?" Judy demanded, her anger bubbling like McHorn's had a minute prior.

"That we don't know." Trunchbull admitted. "But one way or another we will find out, and when we do, heads are going to roll, you mark my words."

"You'll have to get in line, sir." McHorn said coldly, his massive hands balling into fists.

Trunchbull ignored him and continued with his report. "Clawhauser said he managed to shut himself in the other penthouse, and soon after heard gunfire. Then he heard Bogo yell and went to find him. Valentino and the other two predators were gone by that point. He found Bogo in the safe house and called an ambulance."

Judy gaped. "He fired a machine gun on them?"

"To scare them off. He swears he never shot to kill." Trunchbull said. "In any case, that's his side of the story and none of our questions so far have made him change it."

"What about the wolf? Did the cheetah give a description?" McHorn asked.

"The wolf was wearing a tan coat. He didn't notice anything unique about his face."

Judy felt her heart jump. The night she'd escorted Nick Wilde from the hospital he had spouting nonsense about a wolf in a tan coat too.

"Hold up, sir." McHorn said. "Clawhauser must have seen Cunninghorn at some point."

Before the elephant could answer someone knocked on the door. McHorn opened the door to reveal the pig surgeon from before. "Pardon me, Chief Trunchbull. I'm sorry to interrupt but there's something I need to tell you."

Judy covered her mouth to suppress a squeak of anguish. McHorn's face turned stony. Trunchbull went stiff. They all knew what the swine was about to say.

"He's gone, isn't he?" Trunchbull spoke softly.

The pig quickly shook his head. "Oh heaven's no. In fact he briefly regained consciousness as we were taking him into surgery. He wanted us to give you some information in case he didn't make it."

Trunchbull glanced at his two subordinates. "Wait outside."

"But sir."

"No buts, McHorn!" Trunchbull snapped. "Wait outside, both of you! That's an order!"

McHorn was fuming as he stormed out, followed closely by Judy. They waited outside for two minutes before Commissioner Elba came striding up the hallway with his steel cane and demanded Trunchbull's whereabouts. Judy directed him towards the room they'd just left, just as two T.U.S.K. razorbacks came striding up the hallway. Elba rounded on them, eyes blazing.

"I thought I ordered you to return to Tundratown!" He raged.

"You did, sir." The bigger razorback acknowledged. "But Mayor Swinton is having a press conference tomorrow concerning today's incident, and she wants confirmation of the cheetah's guilt before then."

Before she knew it Judy was hopping onto the drinking fountain beside then and looking him dead in the eye. "Are you kidding me?! Clawhauser may be a suspect but he's not the only one! None of us knew Cunninghorn had called Bogo back to the safe house tonight, where is he?"

The razorbacks traded uneasy glances. "We don't know."

"Well, find him then! We need to know what happened!" Elba thundered.

Cowed, the razorbacks retreated back down the hall.

Judy glared after them until her phone began to jingle. She picked up the phone, which started blasting her father's voice the instant she pressed the green button.

"Better take that outside, Hopps." Elba spoke, drowning out Stu's frantic shouting. "I don't remember if phones are allowed in here or not."

Judy nodded, ignoring her phone until she was sitting on the edge of one of the plant pots outside the front entrance. It was colder now than it was before she'd entered the place.

"Dad, DAD!" She yelled, somehow stopping the shouting in its tracks. "Dad, slow down! What's wrong?"

There was a pause in which she heard a sound that may have been Stu panting. _"Judy, when was the last time you cleaned your ears?"_

Judy stared at her phone incredulously and found herself staring at the panicking face of her dad. "Sorry, dad! I didn't realize it was muzzletime!"

_"You need to clean your ears more often, sweethea-"_ Stu stopped and smacked the side of his head, knocking his cap askew. Judy caught a glimpse of her mom behind him. _"What am I talking about, what about the news?! Are you alright, Judy?!"_

"What news?" Judy asked, even though she likely already knew.

_"You don't know?"_ Bonnie looked relieved as she pushed herself into view beside her husband. _"Some gang members were ambushed in a drive by shooting just a block from your apartment. Some of the footage was leaked… it was horrible! You're usually home by this time, we were worried sick!"_

"Oh cripes, mom." Judy breathed, her heart sinking at the news of yet another attack. "I'm nowhere near that place, I promise. I'm at the hospital."

Bonnie adopted a look of panic identical to Stu's. _"Oh my gosh!"_

"Not me!" Judy snapped. "Sorry, I shouldn't yell."

Bonnie stroked her ears in her distress._ "Well, if it isn't you, who is it?"_

Judy bit her lip and felt her eyes begin to sting with fresh tears. "Captain Bogo."

_"Oh my gosh, what happened?!"_ Stu gasped.

"Dad, you know why I can't tell you."

_"Oh, right! Ongoing investigations off the table, I forgot! Sorry, Jude!"_

_"And we're sorry about your boss, honey."_ Bonnie spoke with both paws on her heart. _"I know how much getting his approval meant to you. Can you at least tell us how he's doing?"_

"I don't know, mom." Judy admitted. She'd seen enough of ER to know to never get one's hopes up.

_"It's not got anything to do with that shooting near your apartment, has it?!"_ Stu queried fearfully.

"No, dad."

Stu grimaced. "_You know, we haven't seen you since you left the burrow. Have you considered taking a week or two off until this all blows over?"_

Bonnie leaned closer to the screen. _"Do you think the chief will give you a whole month?"_

Judy sighed. Not this again. "Dad, mom, I have a duty to the city. I can't just quit and run home to my parents every time things get rough."

Bonnie shook her head anxiously. Stu had fallen unusually silent. _"Judy, there's a gang attack on the news almost every day. We're worried that you may be in over your head."_

"For the last time I can handle myself!" Judy replied.

Her growing annoyance evaporated when her father suddenly turned angry. _"Don't let this get out, Jude, but it's a flipping warzone over there!"_

_"Stu, please! You'll wake the kids!"_ Bonnie tried and failed to shush him.

_"So what? They already know what's going on with those darn predators! I want you home before the entire city becomes a bloodbath!"_

Judy groaned. "Don't exaggerate, dad!"

_"Exaggerate my foot! When you said you wanted to make the world a better place you didn't say you'd go to war for it!"_

"I… " Judy's retort died after the first word that passed her lips.

_"Don't you dare try and sugarcoat it, Judith Laverne Hopps! Zootopia is at war and I will not have my daughter risking her life on the front line, ZPD or not!"_ Stu raged.

"I'm not going to be on the front line, dad!" Judy insisted. "T.U.S.K. is handling the problem with the Tundratown mafias, that's what they're trained to do."

Stu paused. _"So you're not actually going up against those brutes?"_

"No, dad. If I do come across any gang activity, I call it in and let T.U.S.K. do the rest. That's probably the most I'll contribute to this whole kerfuffle." Judy hoped her smile would be enough to ease her parents' fears, but it was a very small hope. "I'm sorry, guys. I shouldn't be getting mad just because you're worried about me. I guess the truth is I'm a little scared too."

_"Oh, Judy."_ Stu breathed and touched the screen, as if hoping he could reach right through the glass and hug her. Judy wished he could._ "You don't have to go through this. Come on home, honey."_

Judy sniffed. "I can't. My duty is to the city, now. But I'll stay out of the gang war as much as I can, I promise."

Bonnie nudged herself in front of her husband._ "So you're still up for a visit in a few weeks? I'll make your favorite casserole."_

"Sure, mom." Judy's stomach coincidentally rumbled at that moment.

_"That Bogo seemed like a decent mammal when we talked to him last. I hope he pulls through."_ Stu said. _"Oh, and one last thing, as an old worrywart. Do yourself a favor and forget about that fox. If he really did borrow money from the mob, then you're not the only one hunting him."_

Judy nodded. She'd seen for herself just how intent Koslov was on catching the fox. "Okay, dad. Love you."

_"Love you too, sweetheart."_

Judy pocketed her phone, pulled out a tissue, blew her nose, and wondered how well she would be able to keep her promise. She was pocketing the tissue when her radio crackled.

"Hopps, come back inside. You really need to hear this." McHorn sounded angry. By the time Judy returned to the waiting room, she was almost breathless with terror. Had Bogo crashed? Had there been another gang attack? What was the matter now?

The waiting room was empty except for Elba, Trunchbull, McHorn, Higgins and several other officers she couldn't put a name on. Elba was standing apart from the group, looking over them as if he was standing at the podium in the bullpen. Judy stopped in between McHorn and Higgins, wondering what was going on.

"We have just been informed on Captain Bogo's condition." Elba spoke. The cold fury radiating from him made Judy inch closer to Higgin's leg. "He's stable for now, but they won't know if there're any complications until he wakes. But Bogo's condition is the least of our problems. The surgeon that treated him has just told me that Bogo was temporarily regained consciousness and relayed some very troubling information. The witness being kept in the safe house did not attack him. Neither did Valentino or his accomplice. The culprit was Commander Cunninghorn."

The atmosphere was tense with the fury that was now radiating from everyone in the room, Judy included. Cunninghorn and Bogo's enmity was well known throughout the districts, but no-one had actually expected one to turn upon the other. By turning on Bogo, Cunninghorn had turned on the ZPD, and the ZPD would never forgive and forget.

"I've already put an APB out on Cunninghorn. His arrest is just a question of time, but there's more." Elba traded glances with Trunchbull. The elephant looked more ill than angry. "Bogo also told the paramedics this before he lost consciousness again; 'Wolf in coat. Caught him in the safe house. The fox didn't lie.'"

The stunned murmurs reverberating through the group were almost silent to Judy's ears.

The fox didn't lie.

Elba raised his voice over the murmurs. "Quiet, all of you! Until we can acquire more information on this wolf, the hunt for Cunninghorn, Valentino and Ghostface will be top priority. Forensics are already working on the crime scene but we have our own part to play. Except you, Higgins. Now get out there and bring me that damned rhino!"

Judy stayed where she was. She didn't even turn her head to watch the other officers leave, McHorn included.

The fox didn't lie.

He'd told them a wolf have turned him savage. They should have listened to him. She should have listened. And now Bogo was in critical condition. Then there were those officers assigned to guard the safe house.

"Commissioner? Commissioner Elba?" Before she knew it she was striding right up to Elba and Trunchbull.

"Hopps, the Commissioner gave you an order." Trunchbull said sternly.

Elba held up a hoof, cutting the reprimand short. "What is it, Hopps?"

"I wish to focus my efforts on finding Wilde." Judy said. "I think he may be in danger."

Elba frowned. "Go on."

"If what Clawhauser said is true, then that wolf is after Wilde. We have to find that fox before he does." Judy clenched her fists. "We owe it to him to keep him safe."

By now the guilt was washing over her like a riptide, thickening her voice as though it was literally drowning her. "Because if we'd listened to him, Captain Bogo and the offices guarding the safe house might never have been attacked. We let our biases get the better of us and now our fellow officers are dead or dying."

She fell silent after that, fully expecting a scolding or worse. Trunchbull narrowed his eyes, but instead of opening his mouth he hung his head. Elba locked eyes with Judy. "Biases, you say. Are you confessing to misconduct, Hopps?"

Judy nodded grimly. "Yes, sir."

Elba lightly tapped his cane. "I believe that you might have given the benefit of the doubt had Wilde not proven himself a liar. He was the fox who cried wolf, Hopps. I wouldn't have believed him either."

"That isn't the worst of it, sir." Judy spoke. "This wolf reportedly shot Wilde with a serum that made him turn savage. If that is true, then-" She was suddenly silenced with shock when the butt of Elba's cane shot up mere inches from her face.

"Don't say another word!" He growled. "This hospital has ears." Judy nodded wordlessly. Elba turned to Trunchbull. "That goes to you too. We will discuss this in the office where it's private. As for you, Hopps, you have my full permission to continue the search for Wilde, on one condition. You will not do it alone. McHorn will assist you, as will Higgins once he is discharged."

Judy nodded again, exhaling when Elba lowered the cane from her face. "Yes, sir. Permission to begin the search now?"

"Granted. Call McHorn as soon as you can but use a different channel. I don't want just any officer listening in on your progress." Elba said.

Judy set her jaw and saluted him. "Sir, yes, sir."

She turned on her heel and set off, the sick feeling in her stomach lingering but overshadowed by resolve. She stopped at the door and turned her head. "You will let me know how Captain Bogo's doing, won't you?"

Trunchbull nodded with a weak smile. "Of course, Hopps."

Judy thanked him and walked out, her paw going nowhere near her radio.

McHorn could wait, at least until morning. First she needed to speak with her 'friend' from the ZBI.


	6. Elba I

When Elba had arrived at Precinct One minutes after hearing of Bogo's assault, the first thing he did after learning that Bogo was still in surgery was to check on the condition of the key witness. He heard raised voices as he reached the interrogation room and opened the door without knocking.

"I keep telling you!" Benjamin Clawhauser was yelling at the two T.U.S.K. officers leering at him. His paws were encrusted in dried blood and cuffed to the table. "A wolf killed one of the officers and threatened me with a gun! He thought I knew where Nick was hiding!"

The bigger razorback slammed a hoof on the table top, making the bloodied feline flinch. "Your fox spewed bullshit about a wolf when we nabbed him! It didn't work then and it won't work now!"

The bottom of Elba's cane struck the floor loud enough to turn all three heads in his direction. The razorbacks lost the fire the instant they recognized him. Benjamin shrank in his chair, and Elba noticed more bloodstains on his pants and shirt. "If you dent that table, its replacement will be coming out of your paycheck." The water buffalo growled. "What are you two doing here? This isn't your case."

The razorbacks straightened themselves before him. "The chief wants answers as soon as possible."

"And the commissioner wants to remind you that your priorities lie elsewhere!" Elba retorted. "Tundratown is still a warzone!"

The bigger razorback swallowed. "The mayor herself-"

"The mayor has no business dictating our operations!" Elba snapped. "Where is your commander? I'll be having words with him!"

The razorback frowned. "Pardon me, sir, but we haven't heard from Commander Cunninghorn for hours."

"Then he'll hear from you." Elba ignored the pang of anxiety for now. "Radio, phone, Morse code, I don't care. I want Cunnginghorn back at Precinct One within the hour, and then I want you in Tundratown where you belong. Is that clear?"

The razorbacks saluted to their credit. "Yes, sir."

"Good. Now uncuff that feline and get out."

The razorbacks didn't dare protest, quickly removed Clawhauser's restraints and walked out. The first thing the young cheetah did upon being freed was dry his eyes with a clean part of his shirt. Elba stayed by the door, eyeing Benjamin for signs that he had been roughed up. It wasn't right for him to immediately suspect his officers of misconduct, but after Gabriel's warning barely an hour past he wasn't taking any chances.

"Did they hurt you?" He asked. Benjamin shook his head, sniffling. "Good. Two officers will be here momentarily to escort you to the showers. Have you been photographed yet?"

Benjamin froze. "What, for a mugshot?"

"No, no. For evidence. The blood covering your body is quite significant and will need to be documented."

Benjamin looked down at his body. His paws were covered, and so were his knees and shins. From kneeling in a puddle of Bogo's blood, Elba surmised dourly.

Benjamin started trying to scrub the dried blood from his paws. He wasn't having much luck holding back tears either. "Nobody will tell me about Bogo. I don't even know if he's still alive."

Elba grimaced. He'd been thinking the exact same thing about Starlight for months. "Captain Bogo's still in surgery. That's all we know for now."

Elba turned and opened the door, having decided then that it was time he travelled to the hospital and spoke with Chief Trunchbull. When he glanced at the cheetah on his way out, he was hunched over the table, his bloodied paws clasped together in prayer.

* * *

At the hospital, Elba's mood took a turn for the worse as the surgeon approached with a message from Bogo and the truth of the safe house attack had turned out far worse than they'd imagined. He'd wasted no time ordering a citywide mammalhunt for ex-Commander Franklin Cunninghorn before returning to Precinct One with Chief Trunchbull. The instant they entered the lobby they found Mayor Swinton, Llamadeus from ZNN, Bisoniing from Bison Limited, Pottermass from Zoocell and the bespectacled secretary Felix Llater waiting for them by the front desk.

Elba gritted his teeth, wishing Merlin was here to magic them back to City Hall and keep them there. "Mayor Swinton."

"Commissioner Elba." Swinton said somberly. "I came as soon as I heard."

"We should discuss this in private." Elba turned to Trunchbull. "Your office. Now. The Triumverate can stay here."

The Triumverate scowled and began to complain, but Swinton cut them off. "I understand, Commissioner. Tonight's incident is not their concern."

Once in the privacy of Trunchbull's office, Elba told Swinton everything that had been discussed in the hospital, from Cunninghorn's treachery to the revelation that Wilde's wolf was real. All the while Swinton maintained her hardened expression at the same time she was clenching her fists again and again. With a reddish complexion from suspected wine consumption, Elba had the impression that she was on the verge of exploding.

"So what you're saying is Cunninghorn's behind this." Swinton summated.

"Yes, Mayor Swinton." Elba spoke.

Swinton slowly sat down in one of the chairs. "Are you sure?"

"Bogo stated it himself before he lost consciousness." Trunchbull said morosely. "I'm sorry, Mayor Swinton."

"Great." Swinton breathed. "Great. Just fucking great. I'm sorry, that was crude. I just really, really want his head in a box right now."

"We have all units hunting the city for him." Trunchbull spoke with narrowed eyes. "It's only a matter of time before he's apprehended."

"T.U.S.K. is leading the hunt, I assume?" Swinton asked.

"I've sent a couple of razorbacks out to search for him, but I must insist that the majority of the squad remain focused on the situation in Tundratown. Dealing with Koslov and Mr. Big is the priority here." Elba said.

Trunchbull took his side. "T.U.S.K. is our best chance of ending the civil war without it spreading to the other twelve districts. The ZPD can handle this case without them."

"Okay, fine." Swinton threw her hooves up in frustration. "What about Valentino? Do not tell me you've lost him again."

"He's still on the run." Elba said. "As he has a clear target in Benjamin Clawhauser, his return is also only a matter of time. I will oversee the feline's protection from now on." _So I can keep T.U.S.K. as far away from that boy as possible._

"You don't need to do that, Commissioner." Swinton said with a smile that creased her mouth. "I'm sure T.U.S.K. can spare a few razorbacks to oversee the predator's wellbeing."

And there it was. "I'm sure they can, but the predator's wellbeing is not up to them. Or you, for that matter."

Swinton pursed her lips. "I only want to help restore order to my city."

"You have enough on your plate already, Mayor Swinton. You still have an election to win and a public relations disaster to resolve."

Swinton glared. "Public reaction to the article concerning the alleged 'musth' was mixed. I assure you, compared to what happened here tonight that fluffy little shit-stirrer is an afterthought. We need our best mammals to ensure Clawhauser makes it to the witness stand."

Elba tightened his fingers around his cane. "I helped you form T.U.S.K. to deal with extreme situations that the regular ZPD cannot handle. To ensure that Zootopia does not fall into ruin as Roarcadia did. I did not help you form T.U.S.K. so they can serve as your secret police."

Trunchbull gave a small toot of shock. "Commissioner Elba, see here!"

"It's alright, Chief Trunchbull." Swinton spoke calmly. "Commissioner, I think I know what this is about. Choosing Cunninghorn was a mistake, I see that now. The next commander will be better."

"So long as I or Chief Trunchbull choose the commander, they will be." Elba was at his limit by this point. He could hear it in his own tone. "It is not your authority to command the twelve precincts and dictate how we handle our cases. You command City Hall, nothing more."

Trunchbull stepped between them, blocking Elba's view of Swinton completely. "Perhaps we should change the subject. Where shall we place Clawhauser now that the penthouse has been compromised?"

Elba stepped aside so he could see Swinton again. "I will not discuss that with civilians present."

"I am the Mayor of Zootopia." Swinton thought to remind him.

"Which means you have no part in the handling of this case." Elba thought to remind her in turn. "This is a ZPD matter and it will be handled by the ZPD alone. Now if you'll excuse us, we have a serial murder case to solve and you have a political campaign to fight. We're done here."

The flustered Trunchbull wiped his brow. "Commissioner Elba, please."

"No, he has a point." Swinton spoke coldly. For a moment Elba thought he was about to receive a thinly veiled threat. "I should go home and get some sleep. A clear head is needed if I am to clean up Bellwether's mess."

She stood up, wiped a speck of dust from her jeweled heart brooch and left. Trunchbull rounded on Elba as soon as the door shut behind her.

"What on earth is the matter with you, Commissioner?! Did you know who you were talking to?"

Elba nodded. "I will never forget. But it's very plausible that her interference was what led to this situation. We both knew that Cunninghorn was a brute, but we let her go over our heads. Then this happened."

Trunchbull became downcast and sat down in his massive chair. "Good God… Cunninghorn and I had an argument the day Woolton was murdered. I said some things to him… I feel responsible."

Elba slowly walked around the desk. With the elephant sitting, his shoulder was within reach of patting. "Never mind that, Trunchbull. For all we know Cunninghorn could have been plotting Bogo's death for months. You are not to blame for what he has done."

"All the same, the sooner we catch that bastard the better." Trunchbull's voice took on a gravelly tone as rage set back in. "So where will we be placing that feline in the meantime?"

Elba sat down in the chair Swinton had been occupying before her departure. "As I said, I will be overseeing Clawhauser's protection from now on."

"But sir, the police commissioner personally overseeing the protection of a key witness... that is very unorthodox." Trunchbull protested.

"But necessary. The very fact that Valentino found Clawhauser in the first place means that this precinct may have been compromised. As soon as I leave this office I will be arranging another safe house. This time, no-one will know its location but me and a select few."

Trunchbull leaned forward. "And?"

"And until I am convinced that Valentino and Wilde's wolf did not learn about the first safe house from someone within the ZPD, you will not be one of those few."

"Commissioner!"

"If those killers were skilled enough to kill a dozen guards and infiltrate that penthouse, they may have been skilled enough to infiltrate this office and learn the location of every safe house in the city. I know of another place where Clawhauser will be safe, and it must be kept in the utmost secrecy."

"Utmost?" Trunchbull repeated. "Even from me?"

"Yes." Elba said bluntly. "This time I will take no chances."

Trunchbull contested Elba's decision for a few minutes because accepting that it was final, upon which the water buffalo left. He didn't return to his office. He couldn't. If Swinton or one of her sycophants were really behind the incident at the penthouse, then there was a chance the place was being monitored. Instead Elba entered his car and made the short drive back to his house. The night sky was beginning to lighten by the time he made it back to his front door, and he took a quick look around before going inside.

Hanging in the center of the northern wall of his living room was a genuine sixth century Roarmano-British shield, oval in shape and white with a red cross. Even now Elba remembered the day that shield had turned up in the mail on his birthday, two years after Starlight had left home. Three months later he'd read the news of the Red Dragon Triads being busted for numerous crimes, among them selling ancient artifacts on the black market, and a week after that he'd received a letter explaining where the shield had come from. Apparently Starlight had gone undercover in that very same gang to take down their mammal trafficking operation; upon seeing that shield being displayed at auction she'd been instantly reminded of Elba's enthusiasm for the Arthurian legends. She never told him how much she'd bid for the shield.

Elba loathed to use it, but working under someone as corrupt as Swinton meant that he had more power than the average police commissioner. That made it easier for him to know things she didn't, such as Honey's Bunkers. Yes, he knew about Starlight's contact. He was probably the only prey mammal in the entire city who knew. Starlight had sent a special headset along with the shield with instructions to seek sanctuary with Honey, just in case the remnants of the Red Dragon Triad learn of his relationship with the young vixen.

Elba lifted the shield from the wall and brought it to the dining table so he could use both hooves to peel away the duct tape holding the headset to the shield. Then he put on the headset and pressed the green button, just as Starlight had instructed.

It was a few seconds before someone answered. _"Why is six afraid of seven?"_

Elba blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

_"Wait a second, who is this? How did you get on this channel?"_

"Morgan Elba. Starlight told me to contact you if I need assistance."

_"Elba? As in Police Commissioner Motherfucking Elba?! Hold on a sec…"_ Elba heard a clacking sound and assumed Honey was using a computer. _"Yep, you're on the list. Christ, I almost had a heart attack!"_

"Apologies. Starlight told me you use a passphrase and I completely forgot." Elba said. "I believe it's 'because seven is a prime number and prime numbers are intimidating.'"

_"Correct! What can I do for ya? Did the sheep finally catch onto you?"_

"Sheep? What on earth are you talking about?"

_"Bellwether! The one who's probably behind all those murders that have been happening! She's stirring up shit in the city even now!"_

"Now, now, Miss Honey. This isn't about Bellwether." Elba shushed her. "But someone did invade one of our safe houses and almost assassinate a key witness."

_"Oh?" _Honey's voice took on a high note of excited curiosity.

"It was the most secure safe house in the city. The fact it is was discovered means that Precinct One may have been compromised. Now the last time we spoke, Starlight told me that you have several hideouts throughout the twelve districts."

_"And you want me to let you use one."_

"I know this wasn't what Starlight intended, but I do need your help on this one. The witness won't be safe in another ZPD safe house. I need a place even Precinct One doesn't know about."

_"I dunno how the ZPD works, but this witness must be important."_ Elba heard more typing. Honey typed for a good while before she spoke again. When she did, she sounded numb. _"Benjamin Clawhauser?"_

Elba's eyes widened. "How on earth did you- Never mind. If Starlight trusts you, so will I. Yes, it's the Clawhauser boy who witnessed Woolton's murder. I trust you will keep this to yourself."

_"Yes, of course! Oh God, Benji…"_

"You know him?"

_"I… I do. Is he okay?"_

Elba sensed that Benjamin was important to this badger. Good. "He was unharmed, but many officers were wounded or killed when the penthouse was invaded. I don't want that to happen again."

_"No, even I don't want that! Where is Benji now?"_

"At Precinct One, but he is most certainly not safe there. Now can we please get to the matter of finding a new safe house?"

_"I know just the place. I'll send you the location once I've confirmed it's safe."_

Elba exhaled. "Good. I trust Wilde is safe wherever you're hiding him?" There was a long silence on the other end. "I'll take that as a confirmation that you are harboring him. You have my word that I won't say anything to the ZPD."

_"Seriously? You know that makes you dirty, right?"_

Elba snorted. "Tell me why you spend your days hiding in a bunker under your apartment."

Honey seemed to explode in response. _"To hide from the sheep! They're the ones behind these stupid collars! They engineered these savage incidents to trick the government! They'll take over the world if we don't stop them! Until the time is right, the truth must be protected!"_

Elba patiently waited until she was done ranting. "It's because you're hiding from the system that is slowly but surely destroying this city. Isn't that right?"

More silence. _"You see it, too?"_

"Worse, I've seen it before." Elba felt the ache of his old thigh wound and sat down on a dining chair.

_"Roarcadia?"_

"Roarcadia."

_"Starlight told me you saved her life after her parents were killed there. I didn't believe it at first."_

"That is true. It must sound ridiculous, a police officer risking his life to save a fox."

_"If someone other than Starlight had told me, I would have called them crazy. The news was more interested in you saving the Swintons."_

"As they should have been. Had they known I was playing caretaker to a fox, especially one connected to Liberum, my reputation nowadays would be somewhat different."

_"A pred-lover and race traitor."_ Honey spat. _"It's why Starlight left, isn't it?"_

"Yes. Now I must do what I can to help her and everyone else being victimized by this cursed conspiracy."

_"Are you sure you want to do this? Gabe and Starlight wouldn't want you to put yourself in danger. Not again."_

Elba thought of Captain Bogo, still alive thanks to the cheetah he stuck his neck out to protect. He thought of Officer Hopps, setting out into the city to save the fox she'd once publicly declared her sworn enemy. He thought of Starlight, a little girl at the time Roarcadia fell, who he went against orders to personally deliver to the evacuation point. Then he smiled gently. "I'm just doing my duty, Miss Honey. If I must take a step out of this broken system to do so, then so be it."


	7. Jack I

When Agent Jack Savage failed to find Dr. Slothfeld's Data Disk in a stinking dumpster close to the ruined Arctic House, his patience, normally as cool as the blue ice of his eyes, began to wear thin. When he found a white neck pillow bearing more than a passing resemblance to Agent Alyssa Skyefall's thighs, his patience went from thin to non-existent.

"Oh for God's sake!" He snapped and flung the pillow out of sight. "She was trained in sexpionage, of course she'd be good!"

He immediately felt stupid for uttering the same phrase Felix Llater had invented while drunk in a bar one night. His ZBI contact had been unable to deliver any news of the whereabouts of Slothfeld and his disk, but he wasn't without news. Swinton and her cohorts were utterly in the dark as to the whereabouts of Nicholas Wilde and his fellow fugitives Finnick and 'Cass Tile,' which was fortunate for all involved with the Battle of Arctic House. In fact, the hunt for the one predator to recover from his savage state was gradually becoming second priority.

The Battle of the Artic House had started something, and it wasn't just the bloody gang war taking lives every day. The diminutive ewe Dawn Bellwether was doing everything in her power to turn the citizens against Swinton, including publishing some rather controversial articles. The article of the 'Musth' incident had been the start. Then there was the article politely vilifying one of Swinton's supporters for unknowingly funding Wilde's illegal collar-removal operation, which had almost certainly triggered those gruesome savage attacks. Then there was the article detailing everything they knew about the mysterious disappearance of Sedor Valentino two years ago and the primes suspect behind it, Mr. Big; the implications within the article that City Hall had allowed the rivalry between Big and Koslov to reach boiling point had not sit well with the readers. Every day since the Tundratown civil war started the Meadowlands Gazette had put out a new article, each one giving at least one reason why City Hall was at fault for everything going wrong. Jack had done everything he could to stay out of that mess in the eight or nine days since the shootout, up to and including avoiding prowling journalists like the plague. In fact he seldom watched the news anymore. Instead all his news came from the undercover ZBI agent in City Hall or the arctic vixen from ZI6.

There was a loud rattling sound as Agent Alyssa Skyefall emerged from behind a hollowed microwave holding the shapely neck pillow. "Could you explain to me why I just got hit in the head with a pillow?"

Jack chuckled. "Sorry about that."

"Ah, don't worry about it. I'll take a pillow to the head over a gun any day." Alyssa tossed the pillow over her shoulder. She was wearing a green sweater today, a change from her usual red. Jack preferred her in red. For God's sake, you're a ZIA agent! Act like it!

"No luck either, I take it?" He asked.

"No. This was the last place the disk could have ended up." Alyssa sat down on a crumpled pizza box, sharing Jack's frustration. Every night they'd met up and come to the area where she'd lost the disk, picking a new spot to search every time. "You don't think the garbage truck picked it up, do you?"

"There hasn't been a garbage truck here since the entire street became a crime scene." Jack said. "No, someone must have picked it up."

"Honey searched the jam cams for hours, but didn't see anyone pick up a pirated Gazelle CD. If you're right, the disk may have ended up in one of the blind spots."

"Then we'll need to find out the identities of every mammal who entered this street during and after the shootout and check them out one by one. How long will it take for Honey to compile a list."

"A day, maybe longer if she has to hack the system again."

"Great. Come one, we should get out of here before we permanently stink of trash."

He and Skyefall were almost out the dumpster when his phone began to ring. Jack found that curious, for his conversations with Llater were always face to face. Then he saw the code name 'Bluebell' on the screen and suddenly remembered giving Officer Judy Hopps his contact number.

He held up a finger for Alyssa to be quiet and answered. "Hello?"

Judy cut right to the point. _"Agent Savage, I need your help!"_

Jack felt a jolt of dread. He'd warned her not to stick her head in. "What did you do?"

_"Nothing! I need to find Nick Wilde!"_

"Who is it?" Alyssa asked.

Jack ignored her, being more concerned with Judy's desperate tone. _"Hopps, what happened?" _Alyssa scowled upon learning who was calling.

_"Didn't you know? A wolf in a trench coat tried to kill Clawhauser in his safe house. He almost killed Bogo, too! Wilde was telling the truth but I didn't believe him and now he's in danger!"_

"Hopps, slow down!" Jack barked. "Are you saying that someone tried to kill Clawhauser and your superior?"

"What? Jack, talk to me!" Alyssa yelled.

_"Yes! If I'd just believed him, none of this would have happened! I have to fix this, but I need your help!"_ Judy pleaded.

"Jack, tell me what's going on!" Alyssa snapped.

"Not now, Alyssa!" Jack snapped back.

Alyssa pursed her lips, wordlessly put her paw between Jack's ear and the phone and pressed the speaker button. "Yes now."

_"Who is that?"_ Judy asked.

Feeling that he should know better by now, Jack resumed speaking. "This is Agent White. She's ZBI, too." Alyssa raised an eyebrow. Jack motioned for her not to say the truth. "I don't know where Wilde is by now, but I do know that he's safe. Seeking him out will just put him back in danger, and I know you never wanted that."

Alyssa leaned toward the phone. "Even before you discovered that foxes were capable of being honest after all."

The phone fell silent after that.

Jack glared at the vixen. "Stay out of this." Alyssa shrugged and stepped back. "Hopps, heed my advice. Don't go looking for Wilde. In fact, don't get involved at all. I told you the night we found those bodies, you're in over your head."

_"It's too late for that."_ Judy's voice sounded weaker now. _"I went back to my apartment after leaving the hospital and I'm sure someone broke in."_

"What?"

_"My apartment wasn't trashed or anything like that. But someone has obviously picked the lock. A few of my things were out of place, including my laptop. They may have been after that disk we found."_

Jack clenched his teeth for a moment to bite back a response. An angry voice would do little to assure Judy at this point. "Have you told the police, yet?"

_"Yes, Agent Savage."_

"Good. Pretend that you think it's a random burglary, and don't give any indication that you know why you were targeted. The conspirators will hopefully think you are genuinely ignorant of what's going on and back off."

_"Okay, I think that will work. What about Wilde?"_

"Hopps, listen to me. Under no circumstances take Wilde back into custody. You do that, you're sending him to his death." Jack thought for a moment. "The best thing you can do for Wilde right now is leave him alone. If you insist on atoning for what you did to him, then I suggest you worry about ending the war in Tundratown. You'd be doing that fox a service by getting Koslov off his back."

_"Alright… you're right… right."_ Judy breathed.

"It's not safe for us to be in contact for very long. Is there anything else you need to tell me?"

_"Yes. Commander Cunninghorn was the wolf's accomplice. I bet he's up to his neck in whatever it is you're investigating."_

Jack had seen enough of the rhino to not be surprised. "Understood. We'll talk again later. Stay safe, Hopps."

Jack hung up. His eyes, bright with amusement, locked with Alyssa's. "Agent Skyefall, you've had the expression of a kit caught with her paw in the strawberry jam since Hopps told us her apartment was broken into. I think you've got something to confess."

"I just wanted to make sure that she hadn't already found the disk before us." Alyssa grumbled, making Jack smirk. The vixen was clearly unhappy that in spite of her efforts her unscrupulous visit had been noticed. "She may not trust you enough to bring it back herself, especially if she finds out you lied to her. Why did you tell her you were ZBI?"

Jack climbed onto the edge of the dumpster and held out a paw to assist the vixen. "It was just in case she's ever questioned about me. ZBI deals with national threats. ZIA deals with international threats. Dr. Slothfeld is a foreigner, so if he finds out a ZIA agent is in the city, he'll realize we're on to him, take his research and disappear."

Alyssa took his paw, her paw enclosing around his like a cocoon. Jack tried to tell himself that the mildly electrifying effect on his heart was from rarely having any physical contact outside of a fistfight. So what if they'd spent most of that night in the Palm Hotel room with their fingers intertwined.

Bunny and vixen both dropped down onto the ground. "That can't be such a big deal. It was your people who found him in the first place." Alyssa said.

"We got lucky." Jack said. "If it wasn't for that email my contact intercepted, we never would have discovered that Slothfeld was still alive."

"So if we lose him now, he may as well be gone for good." Alyssa said as Jack turned toward the street to make sure they weren't being watched. "But both our organizations made it pretty clear that the disk is more important."

"Yes." Jack muttered under his breath. 'That's what I like least about this mission."

"What's that?" He heard Alyssa ask.

"Nothing." Jack said quickly. "We should leave before someone sees us together."

Alyssa strolled into Jack's line of sight with an irritatingly coy smile. "Why Jack, what is there to worry about? It's not as if something actually happened between us."

Jack let his emotions loose at last, shooting his companion an embarrassed and withering look. "Contact me as soon as Honey gets that list. Got it?"

Alyssa did a two-fingered salute. "You got it."

"I thought we were going to pretend that never happened." Jack said sternly.

"That happened?" Alyssa looked childishly innocent.

"You-" Jack held up his own paw, stopping himself. "Shut up and go away."

Alyssa's snickering followed him out the alley, and he was still stewing over his immature choice of words when he was back in his hotel room, waiting for a response from Felix Llater. His anger towards the vixen didn't last long. It rarely did nowadays, no matter how much they annoyed each other, even as their bickering mounted along with their frustrations. Honey's technical skills were their only hope, unless the incident at the penthouse unearthed some leads.

Like hell it would.

Jack didn't realize he was grinding his teeth as a sudden burst of anger made him tense up in his seat. The savage attacks had stopped, true, but the conspirators at large were far from finished. Jack, on the other paw, was completely stuck. He'd found the Data Disk. He'd held it in his paw, but circumstances had parted him from it before he could even report his success to HQ. Now here he was, reduced to scrounging through garbage until his recovery from his brush with anaphylaxis was complete. If his cohorts in ZIA heard of this, it would destroy the reputation he'd fought and killed to maintain. It was tedious, it was frustrating, and it was far too quiet.

Jack glared at the phone on the coffee table before him. He could see his future right in front of him. Miss Morton would delegate him to an office, probably a grey room in the precise shape of a cube, forced to eke out a miserable existence taking calls and listening to other agents' contributions to their country.

Why did this have to happen? He directed the question at the phone before him. Why now, when things far more important than his reputation were at stake? After everything he'd been through, why did fate pick now of all times to send another hurdle to trip him up?

Nothing. Not so much as a jingle from that stupid phone. Jack took a deep breath, contemplated sending the phone over the balcony, and exhaled.

"God, I need booze." Jack strode over to the bar and almost had a bottle in his paw when the phone finally rang. The rabbit took the bottle with him as he returned to the coffee table and answered. _"Jack, it's Felix."_

"Tell me what happened, Llater." Jack said.

Felix quickly filled in the gaps from Hopps' own report, including the description of the mystery mammal that had shut Wilde's wolf in the bathroom and the fact that Captain Bogo was the only other survivor of the attack. Jack closed his eyes tight at that last part and wondered how much Bogo's attempted murder was his fault for pointing out to him the flaws in Antlerson's testimony.

_"There's something else."_ Felix said. _"I was listening in through the bug I planted in Swinton's office, and I managed to get some info Woolton's replacement."_

Jack opened his eyes. "Don't keep me in suspense, Llater."

_"I didn't hear a name but he's definitely another prey mammal in disguise. Probably the ram with the code-name Mark II who sniped Koslov's limo."_

"That makes sense. So he was behind the safe house attack?"

_"Yeah. He sounded pretty pissed."_

Jack shot to his feet. "He was in the office?!"

_"Yep, and like I said, he was P, I, Double S, Pissed. He thinks Dr. Slothfeld was responsible for those predators showing up and ruining the hit."_

The rabbit began to pace around the plush crimson carpet the table stood on. "And what did Swinton say to that?"

_"Plenty actually, and most of it came from Slothfeld. Matter of fact, it explains a lot. A few months back, three staff members stole his Data Disk and released Sedor as a distraction. Slothfeld put his special collars on some of the other subjects and sent them off in pursuit, and they managed to track down and kill the traitors. He's had them hunting down Sedor and the disk ever since."_

"That does explain a lot." Jack conceded, as a little bubble of hope began to expand inside him, forcing out the frustration that had been eating at him for days. "It explains why Dr. Lemming and Woolton were murdered. This isn't about tying up loose ends, this is about revenge."

_"We don't know that Sedor was behind Lemming's death."_ Felix reminded him. _"Anyway, that didn't satisfy Mark II, so Swinton called Dr. Slothfeld herself and put him on speaker."_

Jack froze in the middle of the rug. "Slothfeld was on the line?"

_"I had HQ check it before calling you. His voice matches recordings from Slothfeld's lectures before he disappeared."_

"What did he say?!" Jack demanded. "Tell me, Llater!"

_"He told Mark II the same thing he told Swinton. He sounded pretty calm about it, so I don't think you need to worry about him disappearing any time soon."_

"Good. Good." Jack breathed, relieved. "What else?"

_"Not much. Mark II told him that he didn't care how important the good doctor was to Swinton's conspiracy. If he or his freaks interfered with his mission again, he would, and I quote, 'put you and your cock in separate body bags and send them both back to Boarland.'"_

"Charming." Jack said wryly.

_"After that Mark II hung up on Slothfeld and then he and Swinton starting talking about going after Clawhauser again."_

Jack felt a knot beneath the bubble of hope. "And?"

_"And Commissioner Elba is refusing to divulge the location of the new safe house. It looks like Clawhauser's safe for now, but I'll let you know if that changes. Instead Swinton has given orders to hunt down Wilde and kill him, no matter what it takes. Now that they no longer know where Clawhauser is, they've re-switched targets."_

"Darn it." Jack muttered. That put Mark II and Hopps on another collision course. _Christ, this is why I warned her not to get involved!_

_"That's all I've got for you. I know it won't get you any closer to finding Slothfeld, I'm sorry."_

"No, it's fine." Jack said. "No, scratch that. It's perfect."

_"I'm not following."_ Felix said.

"Sedor's somewhere in this city, and he's just sane enough to talk. He's also got several other test subjects wearing mind control collars on this tail, also somewhere in this city."

_"Ooooh…"_

"Precisely. They may be just the mammals to tell us where Slothfeld is."

_"… All you have to do is capture one."_ Felix stated grimly.

"Easier said than done, I know. But finding one will be the real challenge." Jack said, contemplating the dilemma even as he spoke. "It looks like cooperating with Agent Skyefall was a smart move after all."

Felix's tone took on a coy edge. _"Speaking of which, Bisoniing saw you with her at the Palm Hotel the other night. How did it go?"_

Jack felt a surge of shock and rage. "That's none of your business!"

Laughter burst from the phone in his paw. _"You did?! You lucky bastard!"_

The phone creaked in Jack's constricting fist. "We will speak again tomorrow."

_"First thing in the morning!"_ Felix burst out through his laughter. _"I want details, Jack! Copious details!"_

Jack snarled straight at the receiver. "May I remind you that I have been trained in one thousand ways to kill?"

_"Oh yeah? How many ways have you been trained to-"_

Jack hung up then and there and reached for the bottle.


	8. Bogo I

Bogo didn't remember much of the last time he'd woken up in the Intensive Care Unit. The only thing he remembered of that time was the pain, dulled by the drugs flowing through the IV in his arm, coming from the spot on his torso where that elephant's tusk had pierced him. Both his sister and the doctors told him that he had been very lucky, not only to be alive but that there were unlikely to be any long-term complications that could affect his ability to serve. Other than the mild PTSD of course, but with the right counseling even the flashbacks became nothing more than a rare and irritating occurrence.

Tonight was like déjà vu to the Cape buffalo, other than the location of the pain. Now it was coming from the left side of his neck. Bogo suddenly remembered what had caused that pain in the first place, and the rush of rage was enough to push him back to full consciousness.

The room was almost exactly as he had remembered, only the equipment surrounding him was slightly different. The corridor visible through the window blinds was also different, almost empty other than the two officers and Chief Trunchbull. The beeping of his heart monitor, on the other hand, was exactly the same.

"Captain!" Sergeant Higgins' massive face slid into Bogo's line of sight, small eyes wide with relief. "Captain, how're you doing?"

Bogo felt something cool brush his face as he turned his head, presumably the tubes attached to his nose. The monitor beeped faster. "Cunninghorn… that… that fuck… that _fuckhead_…"

Higgins grimaced with similar anger. "We know. The doctor told us. We've got an APB on him now. He'll pay for this, we'll make sure of that."

Bogo's anger abated with the knowledge that one way or another, Cunninghorn wouldn't get away with what he'd done, but hatred lingered in his gut. He would later lament the officers who had perished because of Cunninghorn's betrayal, some of whom he'd known since joining Precinct One. Bogo would make sure that rhino was nailed to the wall for this. Swinton wouldn't be able to protect him this time. In fact, she'd probably happily step aside.

His arm felt like a barbell as he reached up touch his neck. A dressing had been wrapped all the way around, tight like a collar.

"You probably shouldn't touch it." Higgins said. "Before you ask, you were only out for about eighteen hours, if that. The doc said it was a pretty straightforward surgery. They closed up the jugular and then closed up your hide with a few sutures. The scar probably won't even be that bad once your hair grows back."

Bogo closed his eyes, trying to remember what else had happened that night. It came in bits and pieces. Cunninghorn with his sharp knife. The chair blocking the bathroom door. Bogo pointing his gun at the wolf in the trench coat. The dead officer on the floor. Sedor attacking the door to the other penthouse. The cry of horror in the few seconds before Bogo passed out in a pool of his own blood.

Bogo's heart rate beeped faster than ever as he turned his head back toward Higgins. "Benjamin… where…"

Higgin's features softened. "He's fine. Commissioner Elba's having him moved to another safe house now."

Bogo would have collapsed into his bed if he hadn't already been lying in it. His voice wasn't as weak when he asked his next question. "Where was he? I couldn't find him in the penthouse."

"He was hiding in the other penthouse from Sedor and Ghostface." Higgins said.

"Who's Ghostface?" Bogo didn't remember seeing any Ghostface no matter how hard he tried.

"Sedor's accomplice. That's the one who shut the wolf in the bathroom. Yeah, the fox didn't lie about the wolf after all. Who would've thought? The accomplice was wearing a Ghostface mask and had a knife. Clawhauser said he managed to get a gun off of Officer Branson's body and scare them off." Higgins scratched his massive snout. "Or so he's told us."

Despite Higgin's warning, Bogo touched his neck again. Cunninghorn had cut him across his jugular. Six years ago he'd pursued a convicted killer across the Nocturnal District; when he finally caught up to the convict, he'd put a switchblade to his own throat and died in minutes. Bogo had barely been able to radio for an ambulance before the poor bastard bit it.

"How did they find me so quickly?" He asked. He had to know. The nearest unit had been ten minutes away. They never should have reached him in time.

Higgins shifted uncomfortably. "Ok, this is where it gets a little embarrassing. You see, most of us thought you were being played for a sucker. We'd all seen the 'super nice guy' act being played before, it seemed to good to be true. But when we got to the scene, an ambulance was right behind. Said they'd received a call about an officer with a slit throat. We escorted the paramedics up to the penthouse and we found that cheetah right next to you, applying direct pressure. Long story short, I owe you an apology. We all do."

"Jesus Christ." Bogo breathed as his mind summarized what Higgins had been meekly trying to say. Benjamin Clawhauser had saved his life.

Bogo lay there for a moment, his heart monitor beeping in his ears, almost overwhelmed by the blend of emotions welling up inside him. There was shock, gratitude, and a sense of fulfillment that his decision to defend that feline from the hypocrites of the ZPD had proved itself as the right one.

Then Higgins broke the silence. "You were right about him, Captain, and you were right about Cunninghorn. We don't know how many other cops are in on this, but the commissioner's not taking any more chances. Not even Chief Trunchbull knows where Clawhauser is now, but if you talk to the commissioner, he might let you in on it."

"No. No yet." Bogo said. He wanted to see Benjamin again, but he had no idea how he would thank the kid for everything he'd done. Knowing that he was out of City Hall's reach was enough, for now. "Where's Kathy?"

Higgins stood up. "I'll go get her."  
"Get the doc too, while you're at it." Bogo reminded him,

Higgins saluted. "On it. In the meantime, do try and stay awake."

Kathryn arrived a few minutes later, carrying the stoic temperament befitting a Bogo, but Bogo knew that she was anything but stoic. She watched silently as the doctor, a horse, examined her younger brother and estimated that they would need to perform several tests to make sure no organ damage had been inflicted by the tremendous loss of blood, upon which she sniffed and wiped her eyes with the cloth for her glasses. When the doctor left, she threw her arms around her brother and sobbed into his ear. She thanked God her brother was alive, cursed Cunninghorn for what he'd done, and asked if it was possible to get five minutes in a room with the rhino upon his arrest.

"No." Bogo said.

"Four minutes?" Kathryn asked.

"No." Bogo repeated with growing amusement.

"One?"

"No."

Kathryn released him and sat down, her brown eyes tinged with red. "Guess I'll have to settle for watching him go down in court. Dr. McCanan said you'll in here for a few more days. Is there anything I can get you?"

"My stuff." Bogo said. "The stuff I was carrying. Where is it?"

"The hospital keeps belongings in storage for safekeeping if the patient is in no condition to handle them. Why, is there something you want?"

"My coat. Get it cleaned if you can. I like that coat."

Kathryn chuckled. "I'll see what I can do."

After that, the next several days became a mix of boredom, anxiety and eagerness to hear the news of Cunninghorn's arrest. At first, the uncertainty of whatever complications had been caused by his near-exsanguination had kept him confined to his bed, with only the regular updates from his sister and coworkers to keep his mind off the coming results. Kathryn's updates consisted of her work at the Tundratown General Hospital, which had become utterly grueling with the influx of victims of the criminal civil war, her only reprieve being the gorgeous new Orthopedic Surgeon working on her ward. Bogo's only response to her rambling had been to ask what Orthopedic meant.

Once the results came back and confirmed that other than another scar for his collection, no other damage had been done to his body, Bogo's thoughts turned their full focus to outside matters. While Kathryn's updates consisted of her personal life, McHorn and Higgins' updates consisted of what was going on at Precinct One since Higgins returned to active duty.

Like the dirty coward he was, Cunninghorn had taken all the valuables from his house and disappeared, and there had been no sign of him since. The press conference that took place the day after Bogo woke up in the ICU announced that they believed that the rhino's treacherous actions were connected to the gang war; while Bogo still did not trust City Hall's innocence in the affair, he was open to the possibility that Cunninghorn had been on Koslov's payroll along. Of course, Dawn Bellwether could always be counted upon to twist the incident in her favor.

The morning after the conference, the Meadowlands Gazette unleashed its latest headline, 'CUNNINGHORN CONNECTED TO CITY HALL CORRUPTION,' along with a mountain of reports of brutality, coercion and general misconduct that erupted to the surface like a newborn volcano, all allegedly buried by the same swine that had him promoted to Commander of Precinct One's T.U.S.K. Unit. Swinton and ZNN had sharply responded with insinuations that Bellwether had either acquired the reports illegally or outright falsified them, prompting an investigation that was still ongoing. Even worse, Internal Affairs had started an investigation of their own, to make sure that such a scandal never happened again. When Judy Hopps told him of the shitstorm stirring up at Precinct One, it was the first time since his hospitalization that Bogo felt glad that he was stuck in a hospital.

Judy's updates consisted solely of her search for the sniper that escaped from the Arctic House Shootout. Much like Cunninghorn, 'Mark II' had completely disappeared after the Penthouse invasion, but unlike Cunninghorn the media had neglected to mention he'd even existed. The bunny had taken said neglect poorly to say the least and responded by doubling her efforts to capture the sniper, to the point that she even worked off duty. Bogo had spent Judy's visits trying to convince her to stop, but he'd been unable to put his heart into it. Reminding her of the importance of working as a team had been a moot point, as Higgins and McHorn were too dedicated to hunting down Cunninghorn to help her. Then there was the fact that a part of Bogo, in spite of his lingering concerns of a rabbit on the force working alone, wanted her to keep going, not just for his and Benjamin's sake, but for Wilde's as well. Wilde had been the only predator to recover from turning savage. He'd told them the wolf had shot him with some kind of serum. If that had been true as well, then there was something far more insidious to the savage attacks than mere biology. They had to find him and get answers before the ram or the wolf tracked him down and silenced him for good.

Chief Trunchbull had paid two visits, the first time to needlessly apologize for provoking Cunninghorn into attempted murder, and the second to warn Bogo that two mammals from IA would be coming to ask him a few questions. Come they did, and Bogo pulled no punches telling them that they should have dealt with Cunninghorn a long time ago. Not one visitor told him the news he most desperately wanted to hear, the whereabouts of Benjamin Clawhauser, until Commissioner Morgan Elba came to seem him one week into his hospital stay.

"You?" Bogo said in disbelief upon being told who was currently responsible for the cheetah's safety. "That's… unorthodox."

Elba nodded, both hooves atop his cane as he sat on the bench across from Bogo in the hospital's smallest garden. "Chief Trunchbull used that exact same word when I told him. Look, the plain fact is that our designated safe houses are no longer safe, not until we find out how those assassins discovered Clawhauser's location. As of now he is residing in a place even not even Trunchbull knows about."

"Where?" Bogo leaned forward eagerly. "If it wasn't for him I would have bled to death long before backup arrived. I'm the last mammal in this city who would want to hurt him, sir."

"Believe me, I know." Elba said with a small smile. "But we can't take any chances this time. I think you and I both know that there is a larger game afoot. Clawhauser is a loose end, and his friend Wilde is even looser. I suspect the only reason no-one has made an attempt on his life yet is because they don't know where he is."

"But you do, sir." Bogo replied. "Isn't there a way to contact him at least? A letter, nothing that could be hacked?"

"I'm afraid not. Any form of contact is too risky." Elba said.

"Commissioner, I want to talk to him."

"Captain, now is not the time to be stubborn."

Bogo clenched his fists around the cool metal arms of the bench. He thought of Cunninghorn's betrayal and Swinton's lies. "I haven't heard a word from Benjamin since the night I was almost killed. No-one has heard a word from him. Except for you. How do I know he's really okay?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Elba asked, frowning.

Bogo didn't know if it was gut instinct or paranoia that had him on edge, but his gaze was cold stone as he spoke. "For all we know, Cunninghorn may not have been the only dirty cop on the force. He did everything he could to get that cheetah in his clutches, and now that he's been exposed, here you are, holding him somewhere where not even the ZPD can find him."

Elba blinked, realizing Bogo's point. "Captain Bogo, I can understand your suspicion but he is safe."

"How do I know that if you won't let me see or talk to him?" Bogo asked. "How do I know he is safe with you?"

Elba sighed and rubbed his temple. Bogo watched him silently, waiting to see if he'd won the argument. Elba's response was blunt and quiet. "You want proof."

"Yes. I owe it to him to make sure he's safe." Bogo said. "I can't make sure unless I see for myself."

"It's not that simple." Elba said.

"If you won't prove to me that he's safe, then I'll find out for myself." Bogo stiffened slightly as he said this, well aware of the insubordination he was committing. He fell silent again, awaiting Elba's answer.

Elba tilted his head back to release another sigh. "You and Officer Hopps are not so different, you know."

"I'm starting to realize that, sir." Bogo said warily. "But I care about him, sir. Do you know what it's like to have someone you care about and have no idea where they are, or if they're even still alive?"

Elba shut his eyes tight for a good while. "Far more than you could ever fathom, Captain Bogo."

Having not expected such an answer, Bogo felt guilt so strong it made his neck ache. "Who?"

Elba spoke softly. "Someone you wouldn't know. I met her during the final days of the Roarcadia Incident. Before the meltdown."

Bogo clasped his hooves together. "I'm sorry, sir."

Elba put his weight on his cane and stood up. "It's a longer story that your story with Clawhauser, but since you are one of the few mammals in this city who actually seems to give a damn about him, then perhaps I can arrange a video chat."

That was more than Bogo could have hoped for. "Thank you, sir."

"It will have to be in private. After you are discharged. Afterward, his status must be kept in absolute secrecy. Do you understand?"

Bogo nodded. "Completely, sir."

Elba reached over his cane and patted Bogo's shoulder. "Get well soon, Captain. With luck you'll be out of here before the big debate next week."

"Debate?" Bogo asked, and then grimaced. "Oh, _that_ debate."

"Oh, do chin up." Elba said with a chuckle. "It's one thing to be political rivals, but the feud between those two is bound to make this a debate to remember. My next door neighbor's even bought popcorn."

"People today are so easily entertained." Bogo said dryly.

"Chief Trunchbull was right about you. You don't amuse easily." Elba's ears swayed slightly as the wind began to pick up. "It's time I got back to dealing with that debacle in Tundratown."

"You do have a plan, don't you?" Bogo asked doubtfully. It wasn't Elba he doubted, but the members of City Hall he was almost certainly working with.

"As a matter of fact, we do." Elba said. "We're going to find Sedor Valentino and prove that Mr. Big was not behind his abduction. His disappearance led to the beginning of this war, but bringing him back could encourage the gangs to declare a truce."

"You hope." Bogo stated.

Elba nodded. "We hope."


	9. Nick I

The computer was a painfully bright rectangle of glass framed by a rectangle of black with grey smudges, and right now Nick Wilde wanted to put his fist right through it.

His bark-brown paw click-click-clicked at the dirty plastic keys of Honey's computer with the growing irritation of a bee that hadn't pollinated in weeks. Its twin dragged the mouse to all four corners of the alien-themed pad, the sensation almost as irritating as the image that suddenly popped up on the screen.

"Honey!"

It was the third time in the last hour that Nick had been stonewalled by Honey's treacherous computer, and he was reaching the end of his rope. Three weeks had passed since their escape from the Arctic House. Twenty-one days since he'd last seen Officer Carrots. Five hundred and four hours, give or take, he'd spent pacing, sitting, and lying surrounded by drab grey slabs that called themselves walls. He'd spent a fair amount of free time crunching the rest of the numbers. Three thousand, two hundred and forty minutes. One million, eight hundred and fourteen, four hundred seconds. He'd tried calculating nanoseconds before realizing that with time being as ever-flowing as a river there was no point, getting bored and going to the computer, leading to his present vexation.

The honey badger in camo-clothes returned from making coffee just in time to answer his shout. "What?"

"Since when did you put a fucking parental lock on this thing?!" Nick demanded.

"Since Sherry went on and found AssAnimerica." With her paws full with mugs, Honey used her elbow to point at the cheetah cub snoozing on one of the beanbags in the corner. Beside her was Finnick, staring up at the ceiling as he lay sprawled out on another beanbag like Da Vinci's Virtruvian Mammal. For the last week or so, the light of the fox's collar had been permanently yellow. "And keep your voice down." Honey set one of the mugs down before the fox, and the scent made him feel better.

"Thanks." Nick grumbled, turned back to the Internet and hoped that hadn't been blocked too.

Honey didn't leave his side. "Are you feeling alright?"

Nick resisted the desire to plant his forehead on the table. "I'm sorry, Hon. I think being stuck six feet under for weeks on end is starting to get to me."

Honey tilted her head. "You didn't sleep last night, did you?"

"Nope. Couldn't stop thinking about how the city looks at night. Like Vegas without chips."

Honey retrieved the cup of coffee. "How about I take this back and get you decaf?"

"Sure, pal. No bother." Nick said with a shrug while typing in the search bar. "Come on, Zoogle, gimme some crack… No block! _Yes!_"

Finnick suddenly shot up from the beanbag, startling Sherry from her nap, and made a beeline for the cupboard holding Honey's junk food. He flung the cupboard open, the door hiding him from sight. Nick, Sherry and Honey watched wordlessly as one by one, the badger's pop tarts came flying out and skidding across the floor.

"Cookies and Crème…" Finnick grumbled each time preceding a flying pop tart. "Vanilla Latte… Chocolate Chip… Cinnamon Roll… Strawberry Milkshake…" Finnick's head popped out next, large eyes blazing. "Would it kill you to have the real fricking things in this cesspit?!"

Honey pointed to the cupboard above him. "There's cereal bars in that one."

Finnick looked up at the cupboard two foot above his reach. "Fuck off."

"Language!" Honey snarled.

Finnick waved away her sharp response. "Oh, shove it! There's no way the kid's never heard the F word before!"

"He's right, Miss Honey!" Sherry said.

"Go back to sleep." Honey told her and turned back to Finnick. "Look, Gabe's gonna be back soon with the baby, so you'd better chill the hell out before he gets here."

Finnick scoffed. "What hell is he doing taking a baby to get a health check anyway? He's on the run just like the rest of us!"

"I told you, Mr. Big's letting him see their own doctor. Besides, we need to make sure Lance is okay. There's no telling what Slothfeld might have done to the poor thing before Radames saved him."

"Speaking of which, how do we know she'd actually on our side?" Finnick slashed at the air between them. Sherry walked through the gap and picked up the Chocolate Chip pop tart.

As the bickering gradually turned back to the issue with the pop tarts, Nick took note of the time on the corner of the computer screen; it was eight-twenty-two. The latest news should be out by now. Nick typed some words and started scrolling through the headlines one by one.

For the first time since her ex-boyfriend Carlton Woolton was brutally murdered, Bellwether's article didn't involve vilifying City Hall in some way. Whether she was slowly starting to get past Woolton's death or she'd finally noticed how agitated the public was getting it wasn't clear, but today's headline was all about tonight's debate between her and Mayor Swinton. There was also a tidbit about the sheep's intentions to curb the accidents caused by those shock collars and the fact that twenty-three days had passed since a predator had turned savage.

A headline from ZNN elaborated on that last part, stating that there hadn't been a single savage attack since the last predator confirmed to have attended Wild Times went crazy and was apprehended. In their eyes that was undeniable proof that Nick's regular removal of the TAME Collars had been the cause of that mess. The article also spoke of Precinct One's relentless but admirable pursuit of the fox and his accomplices, especially by the ZPD's first rabbit officer, and contemplated the whereabouts of his supposedly innocent friend, Benjamin Clawhauser. The article ended with the promise that with ever other state in the country now on the lookout for the fox, his capture was only a matter of time.

_Which means that we're probably never gonna get out of this fucking bunker! _The mouse creaked beneath Nick's clenched paw as he kept scrolling. There was a small article about a persistent reporter getting arrested for harassing Dr. Kathryn Bogo for information on the attack on her brother. Confirmation that Captain Bogo would make a full recovery. Various theories on the whereabouts of the key witness to Assistant Mayor Woolton's murder…

"What're you reading?"

Nick nearly jumped out his seat. He'd never heard Sherry walk up to him.

"Just reading the news, kid!" He said a little too harshly. "Honey told you to go to sleep!"

"At lunchtime?" Sherry asked quizzically.

"It's lunchtime?" Nick looked at the computer's clock again. It was eight-thirty one. "It's not lunchtime yet!"

"Yes, it is!" Sherry held out her arm so Nick could see the watch. _Twelve-thirty one?! _Nick checked his own watch, which said the exact same thing. "Honey!"

Honey turned away from a fuming Finnick. "Well, what's the matter _now_?"

"Your computer is crap, Honey!" Nick raged at her. "It's bad enough that you can't play games on this thing, but you can't tell the fricking time, either!"

"What're you talking about?" Honey walked over and peered at the screen. "Oh. Oopsie."

"Whaddaya mean 'oopsie?'" Nick growled.

"That's the time zone for Ramchorage, Alaskaribou." The badger said, sounding abashed as she grabbed the mouse and quickly rectified the clock. "A few weeks ago I was waiting for a call from a fellow sister living in the area. I must've forgot to change it back."

"You don't have a sister." Finnick said. "Wait, you're not talking about a Liberum sister, are ya? I thought they were wiped out."

"No, not from Liberum. The Sheep-Resistance." Honey said, with that gleam in her eyes that she always got whenever she broached the subject. "She's been conducting surveillance on this sheep-dominated campsite out in the woods and she might really be onto something this ti-"

"Are you freaking kidding me?" Nick asked slowly. His collar beeped in warning. "You mean all this time I've been checking the wrong time?"

Honey frowned. "Uh, yeah? But what's the big deal? It's not like you had any places to be."

"Oh my God!" Finnick dropped down on the floor with a moan and a zap from his collar. "I missed breakfast. I've been missing my fucking breakfasts for weeks!"

Honey put her paws over Sherry's ears. "Finnick, for God's sake!"

Finnick threw his little arms up. "That's it! That's it, I'm leaving!"

"Whoa, wait!" Honey rushed over to stop the fennec as he stood up and stormed over to the ladder. "You can't go out there, the whole city is looking for you!"

Finnick turned on her with a snarl. "I can't do this anymore! I've had nothing but pop tarts and military rations for days! I haven't won a single board game! I don't even remember what beer tastes like anymore! All tart and no beer makes Fin a mad boy, Honey! All tart and no beer makes Fin a _maaaad_ boy!"

Everyone jumped when Gabriel Mossberg suddenly dropped down with a bundle in his arms. Finnick's tirade had drowned out the sound of the hatch above opening and closing. The feline/fox hybrid looked around at the agitated mammals surrounding him. Nick tensed at the sight of him, having seen first hand how adept the mammal was at killing. "What the hell is going on down here?"

Finnick spun to Gabe. "Buddy, you get right back up there and open that hatch again! I'm outta here!"

Gabe stared down at the livid little fox while he returned the hug a happy Sherry game him. "I'll ask again. What the hell is going on down here?"

"Finnick's losing it! That's what's going on!" Nick snapped, his heart pounding to the point that it sent a painful zap to his neck. He flinched, and then took some deep breaths to calm himself. "Look, I know that we need to lie low until you find Slothfeld's disk and prove I'm innocent, but we've been in this world war tomb for three weeks. We have got to get out!"

"I know what this is." Sherry said. "They're getting Cabin Fever!"

"Thank you, Dr. Phil!" Finnick said snidely. "It's okay for you, 'cause Honey takes you with her every times she goes out for supplies! As for Honey, she went crazy long before she started living in a bunker!"

"Hey!" Honey scolded.

"That's because neither of them have the police, the mob _and_ an evil conspiracy after them." Gabe said before turning to Honey. "But they have a point. I've seen what Cabin Fever does to people, Honey. We should get them some fresh air before they do something stupid."

_Stupid?_ Nick barely managed to hold his tongue.

"We can't just let them wander the streets, they'll be spotted! Unless you've got a better idea."

"So long as they stay off street level and stick with me, they'll be fine." Gabe said. "They can help me conduct surveillance for Mr. Big. They did a good enough job avoiding my detection when they spied on me at the Paradise Poolhouse."

"Yeah." Nick paused, swallowing as he remembered the night he'd almost got his throat torn out by a savage wolf. Gabe had saved him. He could trust Gabe. Couldn't he?

Honey sighed. "You're right. There's a cheap clothes store not far from here. I might be able to scrounge up a few things to help them blend in."

"Woah, woah, woah!" Finnick stepped between them. "Big and Koslov are at fucking war right now! There is no way I am getting in the middle of all that shit!"

"You won't be." Gabe walked over to the table and set baby Lance down into the metal box they'd converted into a temporary crib. "You'll be staking out certain locations with me, that's it. Big won't even know you're involved. It's either that or you continue to stay down here twenty-four-seven."

"Ffffffffine." Finnick growled. Nick simply nodded, glad to at least have something to look forward to. It also made sense that they would be doing something to earn their freedom. "If we're gonna be let out, d'ya think we could check on my van?"  
"Sure." Gabe said.

"I already know your sizes, so I should be forty minutes tops." Honey said, having just opened the safe to retrieve her wallet. In fact, several incidents of Sherry finding and playing with Honey's gadgets had prompted the badger to stuff them all in the safe along with a few firearms. "Gabe, do you think you could stay here and watch the foxes while I'm gone?"  
"Can't. Mr. Big wants to see me back before two. If you're going, I'll have to take Lance with me."

_So he's not in the line of fire when Big's boys show up guns blazing, not doubt._ Nick shut down that thought. If Gabe was going to sell them out he would have done so weeks ago.

"Is Elba still offering to look after him?"

"Yeah, but he's got enough on his plate with Swinton's people breathing down his neck. She's already ticked off with him for hiding-" Gabe stopped when Honey glared at him. They glanced at the two foxes. Nick didn't like the implications behind that. Once Gabe had picked up Lance and left, she reached for the ladder herself. "I'll be back soon with some clothes. Try to keep it together until then, okay?"

Nick and Finnick nodded. Honey climbed out soon after, and then they were alone.

Ten seconds passed. Then Nick asked, "Do you get the feeling there's something they're not telling us?"

"Totally." Finnick said. Then he said "Screw it." and made for the computer.  
"What're you doing?" Sherry asked.

"Finding out what's taking Jack and Jill so long!" Finnick retorted. He leapt onto the computer chair, then cursed loudly as Nick promptly plucked him off again.

"No offense, but you take to computers like a duck takes to lava. Let me look." Nick sat down and started searching Honey's documents. Almost everything was password protected, but Nick knew everyone, and he knew Honey well enough to know what she had put for a password. _789._ Just like that, they were in.

"I don't think you should be doing that." Sherry said.

"Go back to your nap." Nick said.

Nick tried to tell himself that Honey wasn't wrong to hide it, that this information was too dangerous to reveal to civilians, but even so the files he opened one by one had him simmering close to boiling point. The first file he opened was a list of mammals who had entered the area of the Artic House in the weeks since the shootout, most of which had been crossed out; Mansa Bogo was among the few names still uncrossed. Nick knew right away that this was a list of mammals that may have potentially found the Data Disk after it fell from their getaway cruiser. However, he didn't know why Honey had kept this from him and Finnick. All this time he'd thought that Jack and Alyssa were chasing their own tails, but in fact they were followed a series of leads numbering in the dozens. Another file consisted of reports from an undercover ZBI agent under Swinton's employ, most of the recent ones stating Swinton's people were still searching for the disk themselves. The fifteenth file was a medical file on Boris Antlerson, the first conspirator that was attacked. Nick and Finnick cringed at the photographs taken of the caribou's injuries, and the bigger fox quickly scrolled down past them…

Nick felt a chill at he stared at the top of the last page, a series of short paragraphs with dates, Honey's addition to her copy of the file.

_Mossberg Log – May 07, 2015_

_It has been four days since Gabriel Mossberg asked me to monitor his mental state. Other than the occasional flash of anxiety induced anger concerning the unknown fate of his wife, Starlight, he has shown no sign of reverting back to his psychotic state. After what he did to Antlerson, however, I feel I must remain vigilant._

"Holy shit." Nick whispered as he read the rest of the paragraphs, all of which stated the same thing; Gabe hadn't had another episode since he'd attacked Antlerson. That did nothing to ease Nick's shocked anger, especially after he read the final paragraph.

_Mossberg Log- July 29, 2015_

_When Alyssa and Gabe went to the saw mill on Founder's Mountain in the hopes of finding Slothfeld's hideout, they were attacked by a squad of razorbacks sent either by Swinton or the Great Sheep Conspiracy. Then those razorbacks were suddenly slaughtered by wolves displaying behavior very similar to Gabe's psychotic behavior when he'd attacked Antlerson, and Sedor Valentino's brutal murder of Carlton Woolton. This indicates that Gabriel, Sedor and the wolves were all treated with the same serum. It remains to be seen if the serum's effects are temporary in all subjects, or if Gabe was injected with a weaker variant._

"You gotta be kidding me." Finnick said as he and Finnick stared in horror at the screen. "Gabe's a nutjob, just like the others."

"We don't know that." Nick said. "It says he hasn't gone crazy since he attacked that buck."

"Did you _see_ what he did to that fucker?" Finnick gestured wildly to the screen. "That bitch! She knew this all along! Why didn't she tell us?!"

"I don't know!" Nick shouted. "Maybe he got cured, like I did!"

"If he had, it would be written right here!"

"Come on, maybe there's more on that serum in here somewhere!"

Nick closed the files he'd already opened and started opening more. At some point Sherry's curiosity got the better of her and she joined them at the desk. After some searching Nick found a list of the thirteen mammals the ZBI agent had typed in one report, in the order they disappeared.

_1\. __Cheryl Radames – Tiger - ZI6 Agent. First predator. Nicknamed 'Red Queen' on account of being the best._

_2\. __Sedor Valentino – Grizzly Bear - Tundratown Crime Boss. Partners with Koslov Polarnova._

_3\. __Ryan Roarson – Lion – Drug Dealer for Crimson Mane Gang. Went missing after being busted for tampering with TAME Collars on the side._

_4\. __Maria Manchas – Jaguar/Panther – Sister to Renato Manchas, chauffer to Tundratown Mafia Boss Mr. Big. Good with Knives._

_5\. __Raksha Bhediya– Wolf – Enforcer for Koslov's gang. Likes to tinker._

_6\. __Rama Bhediya – Wolf – Enforcer for Koslov's gang. Likes to tinker._

_7\. __Akela Bhediya – Wolf – Enforcer for Koslov's gang. Expert Torturer._

_8\. __Emmitt Otterton – Otter – Florist. Suspected former member of Liberum._

_9\. __Reginald Rhodes – Rat – Member of Little Rodentia crew of Mr. Big's Mafia. Back Alley Doctor. Reportedly good at what he does._

_10\. __Archie Little – Mouse - Member of Little Rodentia crew of Mr. Big's Mafia. Chemist._

_11\. __Susan Wade – Lemming - Member of Little Rodentia crew of Mr. Big's Mafia. Chemist._

_12\. __Stuart Levvar – Bat - Member of Nocturnal District crew of Mr. Big's Mafia. Informant._

_13\. __Martin Lidel – Shrew - Member of Little Rodentia crew of Mr. Big's Mafia. Engineer._

_20-30 suspected missing homeless. Linked to Cunninghorn?_

There were also files on known and obscure terrorist cells Honey had been collecting data on. Information on military bases scattered throughout the country. Contacts within ZI6, Skyefall's name included. Nick gaped at that file. Honey had never told them she worked as an informant for a foreign country. It was small comfort that she wasn't working for North Klawrea or some other fascist shithole.

The fox felt hollow as he opened the next file. It was an interactive map of all of Honey's secret safe houses within Zootopia. Nick breathed out, as did Finnick. He already knew this bunker was one of several hideouts. He noted the box of names floating beside the marker for the Rainforest District hideout. Nicholas Wilde, Finnick Courroux, Sherry Furman and Lance Mossberg. Beside the Savanna Central safe house marker were two names, Gabriel Mossberg and Starlight Foxtrot/Mossberg. Nick wondered why those names would be there if Starlight was missing, then realized this must have been where the spy couple were residing before they were abducted.

"Starlight. Sounds like her parents were sci-fi hippies." Finnick grumbled. Nick ignored him and looked for the other markers, seeing if Honey was harboring any more secret agents. All this time he'd thought Honey's greatest concern was the Great Sheep Conspiracy.

_So much for knowing everybody, Nick_, the fox thought as he continued to check out the remaining markers. The boxes beside Tundratown, Sahara Square and the Canyonlands were blank. Beside Nocturnal District, on the other hand, was one name.


	10. Gabriel I

The diamond ring felt like a frozen teardrop beneath Gabriel Mossberg's lips as he kissed Mr. Big's prized heirloom. It was the coldest thing in the room by far, the air a close second. Gabe remembered the first time he'd set foot in Big's office; when he'd seen the snow gathered in the corners of the room and the icicles hanging above the dark fireplace he'd thought someone had left all the windows open. He knew better now, but all the same he rubbed his arms and cursed the room for somehow being colder than the garden outside.

Since the civil war started, Gabe supposed he should like Mr. Big more. The shrew had seemed genuinely sorry to have gotten his family dragged into this mess; for many years Mr. Big and Koslov had maintained a steady peace, with each side making only covert attempts to steal turf from their rivals, knowing that blatant violence would bring the wrath of the Triumvirate down on them both. Then Koslov's partner, Sedor Valentino, disappeared and Mr. Big became Koslov's prime suspect, plunging Tundratown in a figurative and literal cold war. Gabe had once been tasked with eliminating Koslov to, as Mr. Big had eloquently put it, slay one mammal and save a thousand. The discovery that Koslov had purchased bulletproof glass had put any plans of assassination on hold for now. Then the Arctic House shootout occurred, and just like that, Tundratown was at all out war.

Gabe should approve of Mr. Big more than Koslov. It was Koslov who started it, and the feline knew full well of Mr. Big's innocence as far as Sedor was concerned. But beneath his feet lay the ice pit that served as the shrew's favored method of execution. A horrendously painful death, compared to Koslov's preferred method of a bullet to the head. Throughout the cold war Mr. Big had shown more concern with destroying his enemies once and for all than proving that he was not responsible for Sedor's supposed death. Both shrew and bear were cold in their own way, and equally unpleasant. Once Gabe was reunited with Starlight, he was going to take her and little Lance and then they were going to get the fuck away from the bloodbath he'd helped create.

After paying his respects, Gabe straightened up with Lance keeping quiet in his arms and waited for the shrew's instruction.

"Thank you for coming at this hour, Gabriel. How is the little one?"

"Perfectly healthy." Gabe looked down at the baby and smiled despite himself. Perfectly healthy and beautiful. And mine. And Starlight's. I wish she was here.

"You may be wondering why I called you here at this time of night." He said. Gabe nodded, wondering where this was going. Just in case he was about to be told he'd outlived his usefulness, he had a submachine gun loaded and waiting. One paw should be enough, even with his son in the other. "You have done me a great service these last few months. The intelligence you've garnered concerning Koslov's forces has been invaluable to our ongoing conflict."

"It's least I could do, sir." Gabe said politely. "Considering what you are doing for me in return."

"Yes, ensuring that your presence here goes undiscovered by the mammals that are hunting you." Big said. Indeed, several informants who relayed information from the streets to Swinton or one of the Triumvirate had disappeared under 'unknown' circumstances. Though it sometimes perturbed Gabe, he never complained because he couldn't say for certain that he wouldn't have done the same. "But somehow I feel that isn't enough to reward you for your services."

"I don't know what you mean, sir." Gabe said, ready to decline payment if offered. A salary would mean he was officially an employee of Mr. Big, and Gabe was adamant that the arrangement would only last until Starlight was saved.

"Earlier this evening, I received a tip that may be a good start in properly rewarding you." Mr. Big said. "Two hours ago, one of Koslov's enforcers travelled to the Nocturnal District to purchase weapons from a local dealer, and discovered he and his group were being followed by one individual. They attempted to capture and interrogate the little shadow, but found themselves severely outmatched. There were two survivors. My own men interrogated them and discovered that the attacker bore a strong resemblance to your missing wife."

Gabe's breath misted very slightly as it caught in his throat. It couldn't be. It had to be Alyssa Skyefall or somebody else. "Seriously, sir?"

"The attacker was wearing a mask that was knocked off in the fight. A white vixen with a pale blonde mane tied like a ponytail deadly enough to slaughter two polar bears, a jaguar and a black bear. I am old enough to know that that's not very common."

Gabe planted a paw on the edge of the desk beside Mr. Big, his breath misting heavier than before. Big's bodyguards approached, but the shrew waved them back; Gabe wasn't acting at all in a threatening manner. In his arm, Lance woke up and whimpered.

"It can't be." He tried not to growl. "It can't be, sir. She's a prisoner."

"If you escaped from whatever ungodly prison that had driven you to the savagery that maimed that caribou, so can she. It's possible she may be looking for you at this very moment." Gabe looked up at Mr. Big. He would have made fierce eye contact if it weren't for those eyebrows. "I will give you two days to investigate this tip, after which I will give you a new assignment."

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."

Gabe's heart was pounding as he left the mansion, soothing his son into silence before pulling the swaddling cloth closer around his face to keep out the cold. Noir Rd. was the street where they'd allegedly encountered Starlight. Allegedly. First thing first: make sure it wasn't Alyssa.

He used his headset to contact her. "Alyssa, you there?"

The vixen sounded weary when she answered. _"Still waiting for the espresso to kick in but yeah, I'm here. What's up?"_

"Several hours ago, did you encounter a group of Mr. Big's people in the Nocturnal District? Noir Rd.?"

_"No, I was up all night looking for Slothfeld's mind controlled psychos. Why?"_

"If you're lying to me, I swear to God…"

_"Woah, are you threatening me? What gives?"_

Gabe sat down on a bench in the snowy thick blanket that was Mr. Big's front garden. "Sorry, Alyssa. Mr. Big just gave me some big news. A white vixen matching Starlight's description reportedly attacked a group of Mr. Big's goons."

_"Seriously?"_

"He seemed serious enough. He's given me two days to follow up on it."

_"I'll meet you at Noir Rd. straight away."_

"No, you need to continue your mission. I'll handle this on my own."

_"Okay, if you're sure."_

Gabe shivered slightly as the thawing frost beneath his legs seeped into his pants. "Speaking of which, when do you plan on returning to Founder's Mountain?"

_"Tomorrow night. Our plan is to investigate Founder's Asylum for unusual activity. See if it's indeed where XIBALBA is located."_

"Good." Gabe said. His memory of his imprisonment, experimentation and escape had been as patchy as a paper target shot at by a minigun as a result of Slothfeld's serum, but over the last few days the patches had gradually filled in. Many of them had been filled by the utterance of the words 'Founder's Asylum,' something he'd heard repeatedly during his time in a glass cell. He remembered now being strapped to a metallic chair, remembered Slothfeld's flat face, white like winter, black markings trailing down the sides of his face like sharpened tears. He'd smiled like the Moona Lisa as he'd injected Twilight Serum 113 directly into Gabe's vein.

It had been in the External and Internal Behavioral Alteration Laboratory and Beta collar testing Area where Gabe had put his escape plan into action. A maze of concrete hallways that made up most of the asylum's basement, in which resided several tests Gabe had to face in order to test the new TAME Collar. Gabe had been forced into the testing area of XIBALBA twelve times, the five times with the collar alone. There were still larges patches in his memory of that particular place, but he remembered hearing Slothfeld's voice through the built in microphone in the collar, issuing commands and stating notes out loud. Gabe had followed the orders in a dream-like haze, be it drawing a triangle on a whiteboard, shooting down a security guard with a gun he hadn't known was full of blanks or throwing himself from a height onto a safety mat disguised as solid stone. Slothfeld had noted by the end of the test that the borderline zombifying state had rendered Gabe unable to fulfill more advanced tasks like filling in a word search puzzle, cracking a safe or taking down a guard in hand-to-hand combat. He'd decided to see if a serum of low potency would make any difference.

It was during the remaining tests that Gabe remembered very little, except for the injection he received before each test and the moment he regained his free will just enough to fake a stroke and collapse in the middle of the sake-cracking test. He'd been convincing enough to be declared brain dead and deposited through the waste disposal chute. They'd only discovered the ruse when Boris Antlerson spotted him fleeing through the forest while delivering Sherry to XIBALBA.

_"Gabriel? Are you okay?"_

Gabe realized he'd fallen silent. "Sorry, I was just thinking about my time in XIBALBA."

_"Anything else come back?"_

"Sorry."

_"It's okay. What you've remembered already has been a great asset to the mission. Hang in there, Gabe, you'll be back with Starlight before you know it."_

Gabe was about to thank her for her empathy when he heard the beep of an incoming call. "Hold on, there's another caller."

Alyssa fell silent as Gabe pressed a button on the headset. "Hello?"

_"Gabe?"_

"Sherry?" Gabe's eyes turned to the side of the headset. He'd told her not to use the headset unless it was an emergency. "Sherry, what's wrong?"

Sherry sounded more annoyed than scared. _"You know how you said you needed to get Nick and Finnick out the bunker before they do something stupid? Well, they did something stupid."_

"Oh my God, what did they do?"

_"They went on Honey's computer and looked through her files, even though she told them not to. They got pretty upset when they found out you hurt the caribou who kidnapped me."_

"Fuck!" The curse came out before he could stop himself. "Do they know I was savage at the time?"

_"There was a diary about the serum stuff, so I think so."_

Gabe put a paw on his face. This would either be a necessary development or a minor disaster, depending on how the two foxes felt about Gabe now. The hybrid got up from the bench, his damp pants warming as he marched to the front gate. The polar bears guarding the gate recognized him and let him out. He waited until he was out of their earshot before continuing the conversation. "Well? What did they say, Sherry?"

_"They were freaking out. They said they had no idea you were like the crazy mammals who attacked them before. They were mad that Honey didn't tell them."_

By now Gabe was mentally beating himself to the ground. Definitely a minor disaster. "And?"

_"They did a bit more looking. They found out that Honey was hiding Benji in another safe house and didn't tell them that either."_

Gabe started toward a nearby bus stop. The foxes might calm down if he explained everything in person. "I'll be there soon, Sherry. Best not talk to them until they calm down."

_"But Gabe, they're not in the bunker anymore! I told them not to go but they did!"_

Gabe stopped with one paw on a waist high wire fence beside the bus stop. "They did what?"

_"They left the bunker! I told them they were being stupid but they didn't listen!"_

Gabe's fist tightened and twisted the metal frame of the fence. The disaster wasn't so minor anymore. He couldn't shout. Sherry was alone and shouting would scare her. "This isn't your fault, Sherry, it's mine. Do you have any idea where they went?"

_"The map said Benji's safe house was in the Nocturnal District. Maybe they went there to talk to him."_

Nick and Finnick had spent the last few weeks riddled with guilt over dragging Benjamin into their mess. It was plausible. "Is the map still on the computer?" Sherry confirmed it was. "Can you tell me exactly where in the district the safe house is located?"

_"Uuuuuuuummmmm… the corner of Chi… rop… tera Avenue."_

"Got it. One last thing, do you know how long ago they left the bunker?"

_"Twenty, thirty minutes maybe. I'm looking at the computer clock."_

_Good girl!_ "Thanks, sweetheart. Do me a favor and stay in the bunker until Honey gets back. She needs to know what's happened."

_"Okay. I'll tell them."_

"I'll be there soon to drop off Lance. Then I'll find them and tear them a new one, Sherry. It's going to be okay."

_"Okay. I love you, Gabe."_

Gabe felt a lump in his throat. "I love you too, Sherry."

The bus came quickly. Gabe seethed in the back of the bus all the way to the Rainforest District. His mood was not helped when he returned to the bunker and found Honey treating the monitor, mouse and keyboard rather violently as she closing all the opened files while she raged at her foiled security system. Sherry was on him in a second, hugging him in relief. "You came back! You gotta talk to Honey, she'd gonna break the computer if she keeps hitting it like that!"

"Hold Lance." Gabe passed Lance into the delighted Sherry's embrace, strode over to Honey and gently pulled her away from the computer by the back of her chair. "Honey, enough! We've got bigger things to worry about than a security breach!"

"They figured out my password! They know about ZI6! Neither of them have phones or headsets! How am I supposed to contact them?!" Honey was on her way to hysteria. He could see it in her manic eyes and flailing body movements. Gabe didn't want to shake her in front of Sherry, so instead he grabbed the ice-cold cup of coffee on the desk and threw it in her face.

Honey blinked liquid caffeine from her eyes as Gabe leaned down to eye level. "Honey. Cool. Down."

He handed her a smudged towel to dry herself with. Honey rubbed her head, angry but calm. "I can track them on the jam cams so you can intercept them. In the meantime you should head straight to the safe house in case they've already made it."

"Got it. Alyssa knows what's happening. You should update her as well." Gabe accepted the remote for the security shutter from Honey and found Sherry on a beanbag with Lance in her lap. "Can you look after Lance while I'm gone?"

"Sure!" Sherry beamed as she lightly held Lance's tiny paws between her fingers.

"I need you to keep an eye on him while Honey looks for Nick and Finnick. Hopefully he won't need feeding or changing until I get back, but if he does, ask Honey to do it for you."

Sherry nodded, still beaming. Gabe had to remind himself that it was for the best that she didn't fully comprehend the seriousness of the situation. No child should have to understand such terrible things. The loss of her parents and her abduction at Antlerson's hooves had been terrible enough.

"I'll be back soon, Sherry." Gabe kissed her forehead, kissed Lance's, and went to the ladder. "I promise."

Without Lance's wellbeing to worry about, Gabe was free to take to the rooftops as he always did when he didn't have access to a car, and he reached the entrance to the Nocturnal District in record time. Like Arctic House, the Nocturne Gate was one of the oldest buildings in the city, and the first of three entrances to be built in Savanna Central, Tundratown and Little Rodentia, beneath which the Nocturnal District was directly located. Gabe stopped at the edge of the roof on a building overlooking the Gate, a tunnel entrance of Georgian design, built entirely of black brick. There was more security at the checkpoint than he'd anticipated, including officers of the ZPD. Even now a car full of felines was being stopped and searched, the driver positioned in a five-pointed star as an officer scanned him with a handheld metal detector.

There was no way Gabe was getting past while armed. With a heavy heart he removed his kukris, pistol and shotgun and hid them in the tiny gap between a vent and the parapet. Then he climbed down a drainpipe into the alley, pulled down his hood, removed his headset and put on his best poker face as he took to the footpath alongside the road leading to the gate.

They searched him thoroughly, only refraining from a strip search when the only piece of metal they found on his person was his wedding ring. They allowed him past and he continued on foot down the tunnel, a metal rail with tiny lights separating him from the cars. Within fifteen minutes he had reached the Nocturnal District.

If it weren't for the emergency at hand, Gabe would have stopped to marvel at the cathedral-like caverns that made up the district. In a state of perpetual night, the district had two sources of light- the electricity powering the billboards and screens currently displaying Nick's face and offering a reward for any information leading to his capture. The lights were seldom and shone in rich purples and blues, contrasting the bioluminescent greens and pale blues of the plants and fungi filling the streets and walls. The light was not enough to pierce the darkness above, but Gabe had heard that bats were often employed to maintain the unseen ceiling of the cavern, cutting away stalactites, roots, anything that could plunge into the urban jungle below and cause a disaster.

The first thing Gabe did upon exiting the tunnel was to check the digital map built into his watch. He was fourteen blocks away from the safe house. He wondered for a moment if Nick and Finnick would be able to get past the security at the gate, or if the security at the other entrances were weak enough for them to slip through. He contacted Honey first, but she had yet to find them on the jam cams. There were thousands of them after all. He contacted Alyssa, who was on her way to the entrance in Savanna Central. Gabe pulled his hood back up and continued onward.

Having gone too long without a weapon on his person, Gabe stopped by a supermarket and bought a pack of kitchen knives. Buying a gun would take too long, so he forsook that in favor of heading straight to the safe house. He contacted Honey again, but the signal was weakening. He could barely hear her say 'negative.'

After a fair bit of roof hopping he reached Chiroptera Street and spied the safe house across the road from the bakery he stood on; an abandoned jewelry store missing its sign. Two things put him on high alert the instant he laid eyes on the store; the security shutter closing shut, and an unmarked car parked right next to it.

How the hell did they get it open?

Gabe dropped to the ground via a fire escape and crossed the empty street. With the remote Honey gave him he opened the shutter, which silently slid open just enough for the feline to crawl beneath it. How the badger had managed to get the security system back up and running was one of her most treasured secrets.

The store itself was a derelict. The safe house itself was the apartment two floors above. Gabe heard footsteps ascending the stairs just through the back door. He passed silently through the empty glass display cabinets, long bladed kitchen knife at the ready. The footsteps on the stairs stopped. Gabe stopped too. His ears pricked.

Captain Mansa Bogo was almost supernaturally silent as he dropped back down to the bottom of the stairs and aimed his gun square at Gabe's face.

Gabe ducked behind a display cabinet that had once held watches faster than Bogo could say, "Freeze!" A plan was already forming in his mind. Nick and Finnick weren't here. They wouldn't have gotten past the shutter, which was built to withstand an elephant's strength. He had to create a distraction, take down Bogo without popping the stitches beneath the dressing around his neck, and find out what he was doing here. Then he heard the footsteps of another mammal seriously complicating matters, coming down the stairs and stopping beside Bogo.

Gabe couldn't kill a good officer. Even if he could start the shutter's descent with his remote to cut off pursuit, he'd never make it outside before taking a dart to the read. He'd read Bogo's file after the Arctic House Shootout and knew of the buffalo's marksmanship skills.

"Come out! Now!" Bogo said.

Hoping he wouldn't be recognized down at the station, Gabe reluctantly pocketed his knife and stepped out with his paws up. He stiffened when he saw Commissioner Elba standing slightly behind Bogo, his mouth open in shock.

"You were at the Arctic House. You work for Mr. Big." Bogo demanded. "Whatever weapons you have on you, drop them!"

Gabe started removing his knives one by one. "Bogo, let me explain." He had to be very careful with what he said next. He couldn't mention his connection to Elba without landing him in hot water.

"Save it for interrogation." Bogo's eyes narrowed above the gun barrel. Elba stepped forward, mouth closing and opening to form an order.

"Captain, wait!" Another set of footsteps, and then a frightened Benjamin Clawhauser appeared at the bottom of the stairs and ran into the store. The black sweater and charcoal grey pants suited the underground district. Was it Gabe's memory lying to him, or did the feline look thinner than he used to? "Wait, don't shoot him!"

For a moment Bogo looked stunned and happy to see the cheetah. "Ben!"

Benjamin grinned almost tearfully at him before he remembered the situation and went back to pleading. "Bogo, I don't think you should arrest him!"

"You know this feline?"

"He helped save my life at the Arctic House." Benjamin said. "I think you should hear him out before you arrest him."

Gabe stayed silent and still, refusing to even look at the knives he'd been forced to discard, even as Elba gently urged Bogo to listen to the feline, eventually convincing the buffalo to put away his gun. He knew there was still a high chance that this could all go south and become the clusterfuck he'd feared since Sherry had called him.

Especially when he heard a familiar voice from behind.

"Clawhauser?"

Gabe spun round, his eyes immediately falling upon the massive figure standing beneath the open shutter. He was wearing black commando clothing better suited for a mercenary than a police officer, and that made it all the more easier for Gabe to recognize him.

_He'd rammed down the door with nothing but his guarded elbow, leading the charge into Gabe and Starlight's apartment before they could so much as blink…_

Gabe hissed instinctively with murderous hatred.

_… before putting a gun to a nauseated Starlight's head, leaving Gabe no choice but to surrender without a fight._

"I've been looking for you, Clawhauser." Former Commander Cunninghorn said with cheerful relief. "And lucky me, Gabriel Mossberg. Long time no see."

Bogo reached for his gun, but was too late. Cunninghorn already had a massive colt python pointed squarely at Gabe's face. Gabe froze, internally fighting with himself to suppress the Section Eight that was about to sent him lunging straight at the giant mammal holding a gun. "You stay right where you are. Throw your weapons down and kick them away. All of them. Cane, too."

Elba dropped his cane and put his hoof on a display to hold himself steady. "I don't know what you hope to gain from this, but-"

Blam!

The display shattered beneath Elba's hoof, somehow not cutting him. "I'm a fugitive now, and that means I'm fired." Cunninghorn said as he returned his aim to Gabe. "Which in turn means that I don't need to take orders from you anymore. So shut up and give your cuffs to the cheetah. The fat one." Elba hesitated, but passed his cuffs to a visibly frightened Benjamin. "Now put them on Subject Fourteen." Cunninghorn ordered. Benjamin warily approached Gabe, who glared hatefully at the rhino as the larger feline cuffed his paws behind him. The berserker inside him screamed for blood. _Keep it together, Mossberg._ "Now step away from him." Cunninghorn switched his aim to Bogo "I know you've got your own set, Bogo. Take them out." For a few seconds, Bogo did nothing. Cunninghorn sighed and shattered another display with a bullet. Benjamin stifled a cry from the sudden explosion of noise. Bogo reluctantly pulled out his cuffs. "That pipe behind you. Put the cuffs around it then cuff yourself and the old man. Stall again, and I'll put another one through your kneecap."

Once Bogo had done as ordered, Cunninghorn walked over to the two felines. Gabe stayed still as the rhino searched his body and found the remote for the shutter. Cunninghorn must have seen him use it. Had he followed him all this way, or had he followed Bogo and Elba? Either way, someone had gotten careless, but that was the least of their problems. Gabe's anger gave way to fear as he noted the slight twitch in Cunninghorn's otherwise calm features, the ice cold look in his eyes as he turned to Elba and forced him to relinquish his own remote. _He's going over. He's lost everything he'd coerced, kidnapped, and murdered to achieve in less than twenty-four hours and now he's losing his grip. If only I didn't have these cuffs on!_

"What are you going to do to him?" Bogo asked furiously.

"You've fucking butted in enough, beefcake." Cunninghorn didn't even look at him.

Bogo strained against the pipe the cuff's chain was wrapped around. "I swear if you hurt him I will fucking end you!"

Cunninghorn raised a massive foot and kicked Bogo hard enough to crack the aged wall behind him. The buffalo slid down to his knees, winded, dragging Elba down with him.

"Mansa!" Benjamin ran forward, stopping dead when Cunninghorn pointed the python at him.

"We're all out of cuffs, unfortunately, but I've got tape in the car." The rhino said. "You're coming with me now. Both of you."

Gabe understood then what Cunninghorn hoped to gain. If he gained Slothfeld's approval by delivering him the escaped test subject that killed and maimed dozens of his men, it may be enough to save him from Swinton's wrath. As for Benjamin, his motive was evidently more personal.

"I don't want to kill Bogo yet. I've got way too many plans to do it here." Cunninghorn said. When Benjamin didn't move, Cunninghorn grabbed Elba by a horn, tilted his head until he was wincing and stuck the barrel of the gun under his chin. Gabe felt the berserker inside rise up in fury. "But he's another story. You come with me now, or he dies."

"Don't you fucking dare!" Bogo growled.

Elba glared up at his captor in defiance. "Don't listen to him, Clawhauser. I wouldn't trust him to hold my beer."

Cunninghorn slammed the butt of his gun into the water buffalo's jaw, sending blood spatter across the floor, then did the same to Bogo just for the fun of it.

"Stop it!" Benjamin yelled.

"Don't tell me what to fucking do!" Cunninghorn fired back at the cheetah and grabbed him tightly by the arm. "When Slothfeld's done with you, you're gonna wish you'd let Bogo die!"

Benjamin struggled, causing Cunninghorn's hip to knock into Gabe's body. It wasn't enough to send him to the floor, but he fell anyway. He grabbed a tiny peeling knife before Cunninghorn lifted him back up. He'd had to holster his python to hold both hostages. Perfect. Bogo and Elba were both pulling at the pipe. Benjamin was pulling against Cunninghorn's iron grip as he dragged them toward the entrance.

Looping his arm under Gabe's cuffed paws, the rhino pressed on the remote. He ducked under the descending shutter, not noticing Gabe rotate his body until the chain of his cuffs passed beneath his feet. With his paws back in front, he spun the knife and slammed it into Cunninghorn's wrist with all his strength. The rhino bellowed as Gabe kicked into his side, propelling him out of his grasp and back into the store. The shutter slid shut, separating them completely. Cunninghorn swore and fumbled for the remote as the other cheetah continue to resist him, when there was an almighty crash; Bogo and Elba had broken free of the wall. The buffalo scrambled toward his gun, forcing Cunninghorn to forgo any attempt to reclaim Gabe. "Stop struggling, you little shit!" When Benjamin didn't listen, he pulled out a tranq dart and jammed it into the feline's shoulder. "I was saving that for Sedor." Cunninghorn muttered as he lifted the rapidly fading Benjamin onto his shoulder.

Bogo grabbed his gun, Elba struggling to keep up as they both raced to the shutter, but it was too late. By the time Bogo was aiming through the shutter, an unmarked van was speeding off down the street.

Bogo kicked the shutter hard enough to warp it. "I'LL GET YOU, YOU BASTARD!"

Elba locked eyes with Gabe, gave him a nod, and tossed him the keys to the cuffs. Within ten seconds Gabe was free and charging up the stairs.

"Easy, Captain!" Elba said as Gabe reached the upstairs apartment, smashed open a window, and slid down a drainpipe. "We need to return to Precinct One and formulate a strategy. Listen to me. We've got time."

"Fine." Gabe heard Bogo snarl as he ran round to the front of the store and picked up the remote Cunninghorn had dropped. He pressed a button, reopening the shutter to free the two bovines. Before either of them could do anything he took off into a nearby alley, tapping a button on his headset to give Honey the bad news.

Honey was still raging bloody murder when he stood beside one of the glowing blue and purple billboards five minutes later. _"ONE THING, GABE, WE COULDN'T DO ONE THING! NO, SCRATCH THAT, TWO THINGS! FIRST NICK AND FINNICK, THEN BENJI! WHAT IS IT WITH MALES AND NOT STAYING OUT OF TROUBLE?!"_

"Honey? Honey?! HONEY?!" Gabe had to shout into the headset to get her attention. "Shut up and think! You already had a plan in place in case something like this happened, remember? You had Elba give it to him when he took him to the new safe house!"

_"Oh, right! The bug in his collar!"_ Honey said._ "Hang on… it's on the move. Heading to the east tunnels on the edge of the district. You'll never catch him on foot, so just focus on getting past the security out of the district for now. I'll update you once you're out."_

"Okay. In the meantime, you should call Skyefall and tell her what's…" Gabe stopped talking when he saw an unmarked van speed along the street beneath him. It wasn't Cunninghorn's van, he realized. It was a shiny black and red van barely visible in the natural darkness, and it was only the first in a line of five vans all going in the same direction.

A sense of foreboding fell over Gabe as he watched them fade away into the distance, which didn't break even when Honey's voice in his ear demanded his attention. _"Gabe? Gabe, what is it?"_

"Nothing. It's nothing." Gabe kept his eyes down the street, but he couldn't see the vans anymore. "I think."


	11. Alyssa I

Alyssa received the call after leaving Jerry Jumbeaux's residence and crossing his name off the list. He didn't have the Data Disk either, and they were almost out of suspects. Worse, Jack's undercover ZBI contact had called him back to the Palm Hotel to discuss something urgent, leaving her to search the pachyderm-sized apartment alone in the evening Sahara Square heat. By the time she was done she was hot and miserable, but she took extra care to make sure she left nothing out of place. That little faux pas in Hopps's glorified hatbox would be the last time she looked like a novice in front of Jack. That, she promised.

"Gabriel? Gabriel, slow down, what… Benjamin's what?"

"What part of Benjamin has been taken by Cunninghorn do you not understand?" Gabe snarled through the headset. He was panting slightly, presumably from utilizing his parkour skills as he talked.

"How? Why?"

"He must have followed Commissioner Elba from the hospital, but that's not important. He's taking Benjamin to Slothfeld!"

"Slothfeld?"

"He must be trying to butter up Slothfeld so he'll convince Swinton to call off his termination. He tried to abduct me too when he saw me."

"He recognized you?"

"I recognized him. As soon as I saw his face. He's the one who captured me and Starlight. He must have abducted all the missing predators for Slothfeld's experiment. That bastard's probably up to his neck in this Twilight stuff."

As Alyssa listened, her heart sank lower and lower, even as the coldly pragmatic aspect of her realized the incredible opportunity in this. "Gabe, where are you right now? Is the Commissioner okay?"

"More or less. He's heading back to the Precinct to report what happened. I'm making my way out the Nocturnal District to try and pick up Cunninghorn's trail."

"Tell me Honey's tracking the bug in Ben's collar."

"She is."

"Good. Cunninghorn doesn't know it yet, but he's picked the wrong predator to kidnap. I'm going to find Agent Savage, and then we'll meet at Zootopia Overlook. We're going to follow the signal straight to Slothfeld."

Gabe took a few seconds to answer. "What about Wilde and Finnick?"

Alyssa pinched the bridge of her nose. This was one of the things she liked least about being a spy with a heart. Her choices were rarely easy. "I think you know, Gabe."

"… Honey won't be happy." Gabe said morosely. "But then again she won't be happy if the time we waste trying to find them costs Benjamin his life."

Alyssa put a paw against the cold brick wall. "We can't forget our mission, Gabriel. We didn't come here to babysit a pair of con artists. I hate to say this, but… Nick and Finnick are on their own."

Gabe sighed on the other end. "I promised Sherry I'd bring them back."

"Don't think about that now. With the bug in Benjamin's collar, we can finally learn where Slothfeld is hiding. We have to take this chance while we still have it. Meet us at Zootopia Overlook in two hours. Help us find Slothfeld, and we'll help you find Starlight."

Once she finished the call, Alyssa immediately contacted Jack. She went over Nick and Finnick's disappearance as quickly as possible, her aching heart refusing to let her linger on the subject. Thankfully Jack seemed to understand. "Don't worry, Alyssa. I've got a plan to track them down."

The vixen frowned. She pulled out a phone to cover up the headset as she entered a busy street. There still weren't as many mammals around as there usually were, for the Mayoral Debate between Swinton and Bellwether would begin. Alyssa checked the time on her phone, and saw that one hour remained before it would start. Nevertheless she had more important things to do. "How?"

"When Honey finds their location, I'm going to tip off Officer Hopps."

"ARE YOU TAKING THE PISS?!" Alyssa clamped her teeth together, but the mammals startled by her outburst almost immediately lost interest and walked on. "Are you taking the piss?"

"You heard her the other week. She finally understands the danger Wilde is in. She'll do what she can to make sure he and Finnick are safe."

"What makes you so sure she's not just going to drag them back to a cell?"

"It was a TUSK commander who betrayed her captain and assisted the attempted assassination of a key witness. That should be enough to help me make Hopps understand why taking those foxes back to the ZPD would be a bad idea." Jack said.

"You really think you can convince her not to arrest them?"

"Honestly, I'm not fully sure I can. But the alternative is hardly any better."

Alyssa stepped onto a bus heading straight for the street where the Palm Hotel was situated. The hotel itself sparkled above the sandy colored buildings like a beacon. "Just don't screw it up, Jack. Do what you can, then make sure you're all geared up by the time I get there." Jack asked why, and she quickly explained Benjamin's abduction and the opportunity it posed. "We're going after Slothfeld. Tonight."

"Got it." There was a tinge of excitement in Jack's voice that she hadn't expected. "I'll meet you on the front steps. Make sure you're wearing something nice."

In spite of recent events, Alyssa laughed as she hung up. She was currently wearing a long red shirt and black pants, and when the pants came off she would be left wearing what could easily pass as a cocktail dress. She kept the pants on for now, and felt her hip to make sure her hidden pistol was there. She had a set of throwing knives strapped to her other thigh, and she made sure they were there too. It may be because she was growing nervous. She had butterflies in her stomach. By the time the bus stopped across the street from the Palm Hotel, she was beginning to feel sick.

She stopped at the bottom of the steps and leaned against a rail. The security guards up top noticed and kept their eye on her, but made no move to confront her. Perhaps they recognized her from her last visit, even though they weren't the guards who'd been at that post every time Alyssa had visited the place. Maybe that was why anxiety levels were through the roof. The first time she'd visited Jack at the hotel was the night they'd wound up in the bedroom. Her most vivid memory of the event had been the most peaceful part. They'd been lying in the middle of the bed, breathing hard the sheet crumpled up over their sweating bodies. Jack had been spooned around her when she'd felt an aftershock from their climax and let out a small gasp. She'd realized then that she'd wanted him. Sometime in the near future, she wanted to do this again. To hold him close, to stroke his long furry ears, to feel him inside her. But then they'd parted and reaffirmed their agreement to not speak of it again. This was not what their HQs had had in mind when they'd permitted their cooperating together. An alliance of this sort was out of the question.

Yes, that's why Alyssa was nervous. All she had to do was keep her paws to herself and everything would be fine.

Jack should show up any time now. Alyssa took her phone and switched on the live TV. The second channel she switched to, OX News, showed Swinton and Bellwether sitting in front of a background of the glowing city skyline, smiles plastered on both their faces. Between them was a horse Alyssa assumed to be the moderator. The moderator introduced himself as George Mane, and unnecessarily introduced the two candidates. Then the screen seized and turned to static.

Alyssa frowned and flicked through other channels. They were working just fine. She returned to the other channel, but it was still a pixelating sea of grey and black. The vixen would be annoyed if it weren't for the lingering butterflies in her stomach.

Something was wrong. Jack should have arrived by now. Alyssa ascended the steps. No guard stepped forward to stop her. In fact, there were no guards at all.

Alyssa peered through the glass. The atrium was empty. She tapped her headset. "Jack? Jack, do you copy?"

There was no answer. Alyssa pulled out her gun and switched channels. "Honey, do you copy?"

"I'm a bit busy right now! What?!"

"How long will it take to access the Palm Hotel security cameras?"

"… A few hours, give or take. Why?"

"Something's happening." That was Alyssa knew for sure.

"I just noticed the cameras for the debate crapped out." Honey said. "I take it you're gonna check on Savage, but be careful. I'll find out what's going on."

Alyssa pushed her way through the entrance. The music was still playing, but other than that the atrium and adjoining lounge and bar were quiet. Come to think of it, she hadn't seen any activity in the atrium even upon arrival. How had the guards at the entrance not noticed?

Unless they had.

Suddenly Alyssa not recognizing them made sense.

Upon entering she atrium she heard a commotion coming from the direction of the casino. Mammals were crying out in distress then abruptly being silenced. Alyssa made sure the safety on her gun was off before approaching the doors. She paused, then changed direction to the security room behind the reception desk.

She went in gun first, but the security room was empty too. The dozen monitors still active filled the room with an ambient light that looked pale green. The only screen putting out audio was the little television in the corner of the room, currently showing the same static. Alyssa quickly found the four monitors displaying the casino.

It looked like a scene straight out of Die Horn. Unknown mammals in dark combat gear wielding guns were herding guests and staff to the clearer parts of the casino and forcing them on their knees. Alyssa held a paw to her throat, expecting a massacre to start any second.

"… We've just received reports of a raid occurring at the ZNN building currently hosting the Mayoral Debate. That's all we know at the current time…"

Alyssa spun round. The channel that had gone kaput had returned to normal, switching to breaking news from OX news at the same time Honey's voice came blaring into the headset.

"Alyssa, are you hearing this?!" She sounded panicked. "A construction site in the Rainforest District was just blown up!"

Alyssa's jaw dropped. "What about the ZNN building?"

"It's being raided! The attackers have sealed off the exits and everything! Now they're saying two helicopters are approaching the site!"

Keeping an eye on the monitors, Alyssa grabbed the remote from the floor and switched channels. Now the reports were talking about a superstore catching fire in the Canyonlands. What was going on? Alyssa stepped toward the monitors as Honey rambled about an incident occurring in Tundratown, having just spotted a white and black ear. She found the full rabbit in the second monitor, paws behind his head as he knelt between a pig and a rhino.

Alyssa let out a strangled scream when the raiders raised their weapons and opened fire.

One by one the hostages collapsed, crimson darts protruding from their bodies. The shooter appeared to pick their targets carefully, some shooting only the small mammals, others shooting the medium mammals, and the rest shooting the big ones. Alyssa watched Jack get hit and collapse almost immediately as Honey shouted into the headset that a bomb had just destroyed part of Precinct One.

Alyssa raised her paw to switch channels and contact Gabe, when someone grabbed her gun paw and the back of her neck. Her other paw shot down towards her hidden throwing knives when a second mammal grabbed that paw, completely incapacitating her. With their free paw, they grabbed a spare crimson tranq dart and plunged it into her neck.


	12. Judy II

Five things happened to Judy Hopps and the other officers of Precinct One in rapid succession. First, ZBI agent Jack Savage called her to report that Nick Wilde and his friend Finnick Courroux had been spotted near the small mountain range separation the Rainforest District and Tundratown. He'd warned her against taking him straight back to the Precinct, advising her instead to keep him confined in her car until she could get in contact with someone she could one hundred percent trust with the foxes' lives. Even with Commander Cunninghorn's treachery still weighing on her mind, Judy had protested this, but eventually agreed that she would only contact Captain Bogo once Nick and Finnick were found.

Second, Captain Bogo and Commissioner Elba stormed into Precinct One to report that the wayward Cunninghorn had kidnapped Benjamin Clawhauser. More accurately Elba reported the abduction while Bogo switched between cursing Cunninghorn and blaming himself for forcing Elba to take him to Benjamin's safe house and unwittingly leading the rhino right to the cheetah. A furious Chief Trunchbull threw the remnants of his espresso into a trashcan and summoned twenty of his best men to the Bullpen to form a plan of action. Judy was sitting among them in the pen, listening intently to Elba's statement, when the third incident shook the entire Precinct.

The building was left in darkness after the lights failed. The fifteen seconds that passed after the explosion felt like an eternity before their radios went crazy; a small explosion had just obliterated the interior of the Precinct's armory. Trunchbull ordered half the mammals in the room to follow him to the scene, but when he went to shove open the doors they didn't open. Judy tried the side door primarily used by the chief, and found that locked as well. Trunchbull had been about to call for assistance when the fourth thing happened.

The glass of the large windows that lined one side of the Bullpen imploded, followed by several small canisters. Judy recognized them as flash bangs in the split second before a massive sound struck her ears and a brilliant white filled her vision. Her ears were still ringing when her vision returned to normal and she saw a dozen tranq rifles stabbing into the Bullpen, felling officers left and right. Bogo took a chair with him as he went down, having been struck before he could pull out his weapon. Judy gaped when she recognized the red feathers of the dart protruding from his shoulder. She'd seen them before, being utilized by Sedor's gas-masked partner against the gangsters at the Artic House. Then she'd felt the sting of another dart and everything went black.

The fifth thing occurred in the twenty minutes before Judy awoke, having been administered a drug to counteract the tranquilizer. Judy's head was pounding as she opened her eyes to see an EMT standing over her. The mouse made sure she was suffering no other side effects before moving on to revive another of the fallen officers. A beaver was kneeling beside a sedated Bogo, carefully injecting a larger dose of the same antidote. Judy rubbed her temple, sat up and looked around, her ears swiveling left and right as she heard voices all around. More than half of the officers had been brought round, most of them groggy but okay. She saw tiny green lights attacked to several necks. She looked to Bogo, who by now had come round and was propping himself up on one elbow. He looked at his left wrist and frowned. Judy spotted Trunchbull and Elba in heated discussion close to the doors, which had been smashed open from the outside. Trunchbull had an amber light beneath one large ear.

As her mind gradually cleared, Judy realized with horror what the lights were. TAME Collars. Whoever had raided the bullpen had put collars on more than half the mammals in this room. She heard a beep, and her gut lurched. Her paws flew up to her own neck, and then she gasped in relief. No collar.

"Sir, we have a problem!" The beaver EMT called out, his paw hovering a collar scanner over the collar worn by a still sedated Officer Reinhart.

"What?" Trunchbull and Elba snorted simultaneously.

"The scanners won't work." The beaver gestured with the scanner to the collar. Judy realized that these collars were different. The predator issued collars were charcoal grey. These ones were pure black.

Bogo stood up, using a table to push himself up. "This is getting better by the minute. Hopps, are you alright?'

"Yes, sir." Judy said meekly. "Do you have any idea what the heck just happened?"

"Wish I could tell you." Bogo sat down. "At least you don't have one of those things on you."

"Where're McHorn and Higgins?" Judy asked.

"I think they're still dealing with the bombing that occurred just now. The entire armory is gone." Bogo looked like he'd eaten a rotten lemon as he spoke.

The look on Higgins' face was even worse as he ran into the room, immediately locking eyes with Trunchbull. "Sir, you're not going to believe what's been-" He froze when he saw the smashed windows and collared officers still being tended to. "What the hell happened here?"

"We were attacked." Trunchbull did not sound happy at having to state the obvious. "The bombing must have been a distraction of some sort. What of the armory?"

"Obliterated, sir." Higgins's eyes widened when he spotted Bogo and Judy. "No-one was in there when it happened, thank God, but… there's more. Way more."

"Go on." Elba sounded full of dread.

"There're reports of attacks all over the city. Small-scale bombings. Arson. Raids."

Trunchbull and Elba both looked nauseated. "In every district?"

"Yes, sir. ZNN was hit, too." Higgins said. "No-one's been killed, but the officers at the scene say that more than half of the mammals in the building have woke up with a collar around their necks."

Judy and Bogo traded stunned glances.

"What of the Mayor?" Trunchbull insisted.

Higgins nodded. "She's okay. That's all we know for sure."

After that, the ZPD gradually got their stuff back in gear. The collared officers were herded to the break-room for their own safety until a method for removing the collars could be found; it was decided early one that it was too risky to try and simply cut the collars off. For all they knew the collars could be set to explode if they did. Soft drinks were provided, but coffee and anything else that could affect the heart rate was forbidden. Trunchbull even had two hostage negotiators join them so they could use their skills to ensure the officers remained calm. The Chief decided to confine himself to his office, where he could continue to command Precinct One with the assistance of his captains and Assistant Chief.

As for those officers still fit for duty, Judy included, they all gathered in the atrium and watched as Trunchbull stood atop the stage used for press conferences. The elephant tugged at his collar as he gave the full details of the crisis.

In the span of thirty minutes, all twelve districts in Zootopia had been attacked by an unidentified group of mammals. The circumstances of each attack were relatively the same. A bombing or arson attacked occurred in an unoccupied part of the district, diverting the Precinct of the district from the true attack. A group of mammals raided a heavily populated area such as the Palm Hotel in Sahara Square and the train station in Tundratown. All mammals given the unusual collars were prey. Their attackers had been clothed in black and worn no sigil. They'd used a combination of unmarked vans and helicopters to commence their attacks quickly and without warning, before vanishing with no trace other than the red-feathered darts and the collars.

Savanna Central was the only district to be attacked in two areas; Precinct One and ZNN HQ. By now it had been confirmed that Llamadeus, Bellwether and the majority of her party had been collared, but Swinton had been spared. The Mayor was currently on her way back to City Hall where she could better watch over the situation.

By the time Trunchbull was done, the atmosphere in the atrium was intense. Judy could feel the anger and fear all around her, almost physically flattening her ears behind her head. Zootopia had had its fair share of lunatics, fanatics and terrorists in the past, but none of them had ever struck such a blow as this. "As this is clearly an act of terrorism, the ZBI has already been contacted. They will be here within fifty minutes." Trunchbull said. "In the meantime, we will all do our part to restore stability to this city and protect those mammals afflicted by these collars until such a time they can be removed." He paused and looked over the silent crowd. "The perpetrators of this despicable act will be brought to justice, I assure you, but for now the safety of our citizens is what is important now. If we let them fall into a panic in the wake of these attacks, the terrorists still win!'

His collar beeped in warning. Judy froze, expecting her superior to be shocked. Fortunately the collar fell silent after that. Elba stepped onto the stage and patted Trunchbull's arm. Judy heard his whispers better than most of the officers present. "You should return to your office until you get that espresso out of your system. I'll handle the assignments."

Trunchbull reluctantly nodded and stepped down from the stage, and Elba took his place behind the podium. "Assignments. Pennington, your team will assist at ZNN. Greystoke, your team will guard the collared officers and keep them safe. Moonstone, you're being assigned to…" This went on for several minutes, the crowd dwindling with each assignment, until Elba spoke the name of the new commander of Precinct One's TUSK unit. "Tuskov, your unit will be…" He grimaced at the file on the podium. Judy was sure she heard him mutter, "To hell with that." Before continuing. "Tuskov, your unit will be assigned to Tundratown to make sure Big and Koslov don't try to take advantage of this situation." Tuskov took off in the direction of the TUSK officer while Elba turned to Bogo, who stood behind Judy with McHorn and Higgins. "Bogo, your team will pursue Cunninghorn and retrieve the key witness he abducted."

"Come on, Hopps!" Bogo barked. Judy had to run to keep up with him and the other mega fauna as they strode to the elevator and took it up to their floor. Judy sat at her desk minutes later, brooding over her gun as she checked and assembled it piece by piece, debating whether or not Bogo would accept the request she was about to make. She cared about Benjamin Clawhauser. Even if he hadn't saved her captain's life, he was an innocent predator caught up in something horrible. How could she not care about him, especially after she almost killed him at Wild Times? Yet he wasn't the only predator in peril.

She holstered her weapon and checked out her coworkers. At his desk, McHorn was sitting silently, clenching and unclenching his fists as he waited for the others to finish preparing. Higgins had already assembled his Desert Eagle. Bogo was still in his office, going through a cardboard box sitting on his desk. Judy sucked in a breath and entered the office.

"Sir." She said softly.

"Hopps." Bogo said irritably. His arms moved quickly, almost fitfully, as he continued to rummage through the box.

"What is that, sir?"

"All the stuff I had on my person when I was taken to the ER. The hospital held onto it until I regained consciousness." He pulled out what looked like a spare magazine for his gun and pocketed it. He paused, then pulled out something else; a dirty Gazelle CD. "What the hell is this doing in… wait, I remember now."

"Sir?" Judy asked.

"I found this near the Arctic House crime scene the night Cunninghorn slit my throat." Bogo said. "It's just a pirated CD. Nothing special."

"I see, sir." Judy cleared her throat. "Sir, I have a request."

"Make it quick." Bogo said.

"Just before this all started, I received a… an anonymous tip that Wilde has been spotted on the border between the Rainforest District and Tundratown. I would like to follow up on this tip."

_Beep!_

That was the last thing Judy expected to hear from the buffalo. Bogo froze, both hooves propped on his desk, as something flashed beneath the cuff of his left sleeve. Judy frowned.

"Sir, what was that?" Higgins stood framed in the doorway, Desert Eagle in his holster.

"Not now, Higgins. Wait for me outside." Bogo closed the door and turned back to Judy. He had the same look on his face he had when Judy had returned from the disastrous pursuit in Little Rodentia. The bunny tried not to wilt. "Hopps… My dear Officer Hopps.. As much as I'd love to settle this Wilde business once and for all, that insufferable fox is the least of our problems."

Judy steeled her own gaze, feeling like she was her younger self about to step onto the thin ice of the pond near her family's farm. "I know you're desperate to get Clawhauser back. You owe him your life. It's more or less the same reason why I need to find Wilde. For three weeks everyone from you to my parents has been telling me that what happened to you wasn't my fault. That Cunninghorn would have attacked you whether I believed Wilde about the wolf or not." Judy tried to keep her nose from twitching as her emotions starting bubbling up. "But no matter what anyone says, I feel like I failed him. Failed you. Sir, I think you feel that you failed Clawhauser. You're so determined to get him back that you didn't tell anyone you got collared yourself."

Bogo pulled down his sleeve, exposing the collar on his wrist. "I suppose they didn't think the collar would work through a bandage. I hope for your sake that you're not about to blackmail me, Hopps."

"Of course not, sir!" Judy balled her fists. "But just like you, I made a mistake and I need to fix it. Please, let me go after Wilde. I have to find him before it's too late."

Bogo sighed and pulled his sleeve back over the collar before opening the door. "Higgins!"

"Captain?" Higgins called.

"Change of plans! You're going with Hopps to follow up on a tip!"

"What sort of tip?" Higgins asked in confusion.

"She'll explain on the way." Bogo turned back to Judy. "You have three hours. Return here whether you find him or not."

Judy's heart leapt. "And if I find him, sir?"

"The rest of us are going to City Hall to ask Mayor Swinton some questions. Call us if anything comes of this tip."

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir." Judy saluted him, grateful for his trust in her. "Are you sure you'll be alright with that collar, uh, bracelet, sir?"

"I'm sure, Hopps." Bogo tapped his watch. "Your three hours are counting down. Now get moving."

While Judy gave her explanation to Higgins on their way down to the Precinct's parking lot, she left out the part where it was Jack Savage who tipped her off. She stopped speaking when they entered the atrium and saw the horde of reporters lying in wait through the glass entrance. There was a line of officers separating them from the windows and rotating door, making sure they couldn't get any near their collared coworkers.

"Cottonballs, those jerks must live in their vans." Judy muttered.

"I hear the other affected buildings have been put under lockdown. Commissioner's orders." Higgins' large hand steered Judy towards the elevator. "We should get moving before he decides to lock this place down too."

Judy followed the hippo inside, the doors shutting behind her cutting off the ruckus from the reporters. The sudden jerk as the elevator began its descent exacerbated the sick feeling in her gut, not helped by the selfish, cowardly relief she felt at being distanced from this disaster, even for a mere three hours. Thieving weasels she could handle. Warring gangsters she could assist. One terrorist attack on one building she could cope with. But two terrorist attacks in every district in the city, topped off with an ongoing bloody gang war between city's two most infamous gangs…

"Hopps?" Judy blinked and realized that the elevator had stopped and opened. Higgins was looking down at her and holding the door open.

"I need to make a couple of calls." She said weakly. Higgins nodded and went ahead. The elevator doors slid shut, sealing the bunny inside. Judy's paw was shaky as she pulled out her phone, and saw that because she'd had it on silent she'd missed forty hundred text messages and one hundred and twelve calls from her parents and assorted siblings. She dialed her mother's number. She made sure she hadn't accidentally activated Muzzletime again before she held the phone to her ear. "Mom?"

_"Judy?!"_ Bonnie's reply came as a shriek. _"Stu, put down that phone, it's her!"_

"Mom…" Judy said.

_"Judy, we saw the news! We're so happy you're okay!"_ Bonnie sounded nearly in tears, if she wasn't already. Judy wished she was here so she could hug her and tell her she was sorry.

"I'm okay." She chose not to mention that she'd been darted. She would not tell them how helpless she'd felt in the minutes after waking up from that tranquilizer. "I saw all the messages. I would have called sooner, but you have to keep your phone silent in the bullpen."

_"Okay, I understand that, sweetheart."_ Bonnie said. Judy thought she heard her frantic father in the background. _"What in Heaven is going on over there?" _

"Mom, how much did the news tell you?" Judy began to pace around the elevator to work off her nerves. With how tightly strung those nerves were right now, if her parents started demanding that she come home again she didn't think she could stop herself from shouting at them.

_"Only that there's been a bombing in every district in the city, even the place you work!"_

"Small bombings." Judy pressed. "Our armory was destroyed, but fortunately we're not exactly short on weapons."

_"Judy, who did this? Those gangs? IBIS?"_

Judy recalled how distressed her parents had been at the thought that Judy would be taking up arms against those giant predators, and decided to nip that part of the conversation in the bud. "We don't know yet, but that's the ZBI's jurisdiction. I won't be going up against any terrorists, I promise."

_"No, Stuart! Remember the agreement! You're not to talk to her while you're in a tizzy!"_ Bonnie snapped at her husband. _"You promise, Judy?"_

"I promise. Right now I'm on a different assignment. I can't tell you what exactly, but it's got nothing to do with those attacks."

_"So it's safe?"_

"Perfectly safe."

_"Would you like us to meet you at the station?"_

"That won't be necessary."

_"Stu says you can borrow his shotgun if you want."_

"That _really_ won't be necessary. Just stay at home and I'll call you later." Judy said. "Mom, what was that awkward chuckle for?"

Bonnie sounded like one of the kits she'd scold for staying out past curfew. _"It's, ah, a little too late for staying at home, sweetheart. We're kind of already on our way."_

Judy's paw flexed around her phone and her foot thumped the floor with the speed of a jackhammer. "Mom, tell dad to turn the truck around and go home."

_"I would, but with Georgie borrowing the truck for a few days, we're taking the train to get there…"_

"_What?_" Judy half-growled into the receiver.

_"I'm sorry, I promise we won't interfere!"_ Bonnie insisted. _"We'll call you when we get there, then after that we'll find a hotel and wait until you're off duty."_

Judy was surprised at how reasonable that sounded. "And we'll talk then?"

_"Of course. Hopefully your father will have gotten out of his tizzy by then."_

Judy sighed deeply into the receiver. "Okay, but fair warning, one of the stations was attacked. You might find yourselves stuck on the train when you get here."

_"Oh, pish posh. We'll be fine. We'll call you if that does happen."_

"Good. I've got to make another call, so I gotta go. Love you, guys."

Judy hung up, stomped her foot, and let loose with a groan that seemed to fill the massive elevator.

"Hopps?" Higgins called from outside.

"One minute!" Judy called back and started scrolling through the phone screen for Jack Savage's number. Her search was interrupted when the radio fixed to her belt crackled.

_"If you don't know where you are going, any road can take you there."_

Judy grabbed the radio and held it to her face. The voice was female and familiar to the bunny's ears, but not by any officer she'd met. "Who is this? Whoever you are, come in."

_"The time has come to talk of many things:"_ The female went on with a calmness that unnerved the bunny listening. _"Of predators and prey- and Twilight- of Night Howlers and queens."_

Judy stared at the radio. "Is this some kind of joke? How did you get on this frequency?"

_"Begin at the beginning."_ The voice's tone took on the tune-like quality of a poet. _"And go on till you reach Glacier Heights, then stop."_

"Glacier Heights?" Judy's mind raced through the case file on Sedor Valentino; Glacier Heights was the apartment building where he'd lived.

"_The castle of the Red Knight. In Room 302 you will find your fox, trapped within the Walrus's lair."_

Judy stopped pacing and stood in the middle of the elevator. The doors opened to reveal an irritated Higgins. Judy held up a paw to stop him from speaking and pointed to the radio. "You mean Wilde?"

_"The one and only Wilde in Zootopia. The Walrus is hungry, my little White Knight. Hungry and angry. You don't have long."_

Higgins's eyes widened at the mention of the fox. Judy felt her fur stand up on end and applied some bravado to her voice. "How do I know this isn't some kind of prank?"

_"If you'll believe in me, I'll believe in you. Is that a bargain?"_

Judy looked to Higgins. He nodded, which was what she had been hoping for. Feeling confident with his support, Judy turned her face back to the radio. "It's a bargain."

The radio fell silent. Higgins knelt down before Judy. "Who the frack is referencing Wonderland?"

"I, I don't have a clue." Judy said. "Should we really trust her?"

"Hell, no. For all we know it could be those terrorists playing games with us." Higgins said. "Until we figure out more about what the hell is going on, we'd better play along for now. I'm gonna call the Captain about this."

Judy nodded. "Please hurry. I'm worried about Wilde."

Higgins looked at her out the corner of his eye as he waited for Bogo to answer the phone. "Just don't get your hopes up, Hopps. If that woman was telling the truth, then the chances are he's already dead."


	13. Nick II

_Earlier that day…_

Nick's paws were scraped halfway to shit as he clambered further up the rocky green slope, his fur pelted by the relentless torrent of a nearby faux-rain sprinkler.

_Stupid…_

He heard an especially hideous curse beneath him and sharply turned his head. Finnick's smaller claws were struggling to get a purchase on the soaking, mossy rocks.

_Stupid…_

Nick grabbed a protruding root to keeping from falling back the way he'd come, reached down, and hauled Finnick up a nanosecond before a massive white paw came crashing down.

_Stupid!_

Several hours ago, back when they'd been a pair of anxious, angry foxes half mad from Cabin Fever, leaving the safety of Honey's bunker had seemed like a good idea at the time. Sneak into the Nocturnal District, find Benji's new safehouse, make amends with their buddy and head back to the bunker before anyone even knew they'd been there. The hell with Honey and her psycho knife-nut pal. If they'd been more honest with them they might have trusted them enough to stay put.

Their half-assed plan had gone swimmingly at first. The Tundratown entrance was a no-go, so they'd decided to take the one in Savanna Central; only to discover that security had been beefed up that there was no probably way for two wanted foxes to sneak through undetected. They'd sat huddled in a dank alley in between two crates for a good while after that, the effects of Cabin Fever wearing off and allowing fear to set in. Then a bunch of Koslov's goons spotted them while on their way to an arms deal and fear became panic.

Holding the furious fennec fox like a fancy gift basket, Nick looked up to see how far they had to go. Not that much higher, thank God. "Will you let go of my ears?!" Finnick raged and tugged at the bigger fox's fingers as the polar bear that nearly nabbed him drew closer.

"Fin, brace yourself!" Nick yelled.

Finnick looked up at the wooden rail at the top of the slope. "Don't you dare!"

"Don't bite my face off for this!" Nick threw the little fox with all his mine. Finnick hollered all the way over the rail and onto the safety of the balcony floor.

Nick swished his tail out the reach of the bear when he lunged at it and resumed climbing. There were four more further down the slope, but not the same ones that had spotted them in Savanna Central. These bears had likely already been in the area when they'd been tipped off that Koslov's fugitives were coming their way. In any case they persisted in pursuing the fox up the slope that led up to one of the highest levels of the Rainforest District, the Viracocha Arcade; a mountainside plaza of electronics shops, bars, amusement arcades and restaurants sheltered from the constant rain by an arched glass roof decorated with small plants and flowers. Nick's paw grasped the rail and he hauled himself over just as he heard a shout and an earthy crumbling sound. He looked through the bars and saw that some rocks had given way beneath the bear closest to the top. The big scruffy bastard was already tumbling back down in the direction of his fellow pursuers.

Finnick pulled Nick's head back through the bars. "That won't slow 'em for long, move your ass!"

Nick scrambled to his feet. "We never should have left the damn bunker."

"I concur, now move it!"

The two foxes fled inside the building, which turned out to be the currently closed . Dodging paint cans and discarded tools they made for the front door. Nick had visited the Viracocha Arcade enough times to plan their escape from here. Behind Elder Electronics four doors down was an underused and overgrown side path that would lead them straight to a sky tram station. He knew of another station located less than a quarter of a mile from Honey's bunker. It was their best shot, and they had to get there before those bears got inside the plaza.

The front door was locked when they reached it, but Finnick was able to procure a card from his wallet and open the door in seconds. The plaza outside was busy. Of course it was. Nick's nerves were screaming at him to keep running, but he and Finnick forced themselves to walk as calmly as possible. Their faces were all over the city by now, but so long as they didn't draw attention they might just be able to get to the Elder store without being recognized.

As they walked, Nick looked left and right for any sign of polar bears. Nothing to the north or the east. The south on the other paw…

"Shit!" Nick hissed and pointed. Finnick saw the bears approaching, gritted his teeth and started walking faster. They passed Apu Amusements, then Donut Den. On the other side of Elder Electronics would be a narrow alley leading to the side path. Nick hoped the bears would lose them in the crowd before then.

Finnick suddenly held an arm in front of Nick, stopping him. "Hold up. I've got an idea."

"Does this idea involve causing a huge scene and getting us arrested?" Nick asked harshly.

"Yeah and nah."

With the bears closing in behind them, Nick nervously followed Finnick across the plaza and towards Inti's Bar. Finnick motioned for him to be silent as they strode in.

The sight of the amber-colored disco ball illuminating the bar reminded Nick of the tiny article he'd read concerning the bar's opening several years ago; the article had mentioned something about an Incan or Aztec god of the sun, whose name he couldn't remember if his life depended on it. This irrelevant and unhelpful bit of info passed through his head before Finnick subtly gestured to a table full of predators of bears, wolves and other stereotypically dangerous predators. Then he pushed Nick to a table that would be out of sight for anyone walking into the establishment. The two foxes slid under the table and waited. Seconds later, the bears barged inside, soaking wet, covered in mud and sporting superficial wounds from their accident. They stopped and froze when the predators at the other table spotted them and rose from their seats.

Nick noticed their casual but sophisticated dark clothing, just like what Gabe's acquaintances had worn at Paradise Poolhouse, and realized what Finnick had done.

The few other mammals in the bar sensed the charged atmosphere between the rival factions and started to make themselves scarce. Nick and Finnick did the same, creeping towards the exit as the gangsters started to exchange words. Nick heard unsubtle threats and guns being drawn and cocked. He and Finnick hid behind the legs of a lion as they left the bar in the nick of time.

Bullets flew and shattered the windows above their heads, sending mammals screaming and fleeing in all directions. Nick's heart thundered in terror and he doubled over to Finnick's height, slapping his paws over his ears.

"The cops will be here soon!" Finnick shouted over the gunfire. "Where do we go from here?!"

They passed Elder Electronics, turned ninety degrees and entered the narrow alley. Nick looked behind him but didn't see anyone follow them, just mammals running for their lives as the gunfire died down into nothing. The silence that followed chilled his blood worse than the bullets. He opened the fire exit at the end, glad that it wasn't alarmed, to meet a wall of viridian green vegetation. He looked to the ground, spotting the beginning of the path beneath the leaves. "Come on." Nick had to fight his eyes into the path, pushing aside heavy leaves and branches. He could feel Finnick sticking close behind him as they went, almost feeling like the path was endless before he parted a particularly wide leave and slipped on wet wooden boards. He managed to regain his balance and look up to see the thick black cable stretching as far as the eye could see. _Almost there…_

Nick kept looking back at the thick bush as he and Finnick rushed to the edge of the station, expecting a horde of angry bears to emerge any second. Wouldn't you know it? There wasn't a cable car in sight.

With summer beginning its gradual transition to fall, the rain had gotten cooler. Nick shivered both from cold and nerves as he waited for the tram. Finnick kept glancing at his watch and the nearby signboard signaling the sky tram timetable.

"Come on… come on…"

Nick's ears pricked when he heard a crashing sound coming from the bush, then fell flat when he realized what it was. Where was the damn sky tram?

"Kinda makes ya wish for the good old days when it was just a bunny cop chasing ya, doesn't it?" Finnick muttered.

Nick nodded. "Tell me about it." Then he reached down and slugged Finnick in the jaw. The fennec staggered back, staring up at him as he rubbed the spot where he'd been hit. "What the fuck, Nick?"

"There'll be more where that came from if I see the news later and find out that someone other than those assholes got hurt! Smart plan, Finnick! Really smart plan!"

There was a sound both harsh and soft, like a pile of dry leaves kicked to the wind. Nick and Finnick both turned to see the first of the bears emerge from the foliage, sporting two bullet wounds in his arm. He growled under his breath. "There you are."

Nick and Finnick backed closer to the edge as two more bears appeared. The cold rain washed the blood from their fur as they advanced with guns drawn. "You're not going anywhere." The first bear snarled in both range and pain. "Not after what you just fucking pulled."

Nick looked behind him at the empty space beyond the station. Two hundred feet straight down to the bottom. No vines or trees to break their fall. Still no cable car.

"Okay." He breathed and raised his paws, trying not to let his face give way how close he was to shitting bricks right now. Finnick did the same after a moment, while doing a far better job at hiding his fear with anger. "Okay. We give up."

The first thing the bears did was, because they were short on bags at the moment, put empty bear-sized crisp packets over their heads. Then they roughly patted Nick down and completely emptied his pockets. The fox felt his right sleeve being tugged down. "What the hell is this? Some kinda schizo-arm brace?"

Nick shrugged. "I'm a fugitive from the law and the mob. Figured I'd get into a fight sooner or later."

He felt the bear start to tug at the item, and started to feel his arm get yanked off with it, but another bear spoke up before that could happen. "We don't have time for that, Serge! The cops will be here any second!"

Nick felt himself being lifted off the wet floor, and needle-like claws threatening to pierce his skin. His body jerked up and down as his captor walked, then he felt a light swaying sensation as they stepped onto a cable car. There was a jolt as the cable car got moving, and sirens in the distance as the ZPD arrived at the scene of the firefight. The bears spoke quietly through their journey while keeping a tight hold on the fox and his buddy. They were royally pissed off at losing one of their own, but considered the fight as a whole a significant victory against their rivals. It turned out that most of the predators they'd killed, and they'd killed every last one of them, were among the gang's top enforcers. It was a blow Mr. Big would definitely be feeling tomorrow once the news got out, if he wasn't feeling it now.

They got off the cable car, then Nick heard a door opening and felt rough fabric beneath his paws as he was placed on a car seat. He felt Finnick being planted next to him, then felt the bears sandwich both foxes between them, pinning them in the middle as the third bear took the wheel.

They drove for a good hour or so before Nick felt the air grow colder, chilling the rainwater in his fur. Then the car came to a stop, and the car tilted as the bear beside him climbed out. Claws pinched the back of his collar, lifting him into the cold air.

When he was set down on dry floor, he fully expected to find himself face to face with Koslov when the 'bag' came off. Instead he found himself in a drab, windowless room that might have once stored cleaning equipment.

For the sake of it, he looked up at the bear looming over him and asked; "Where are we?"

The bear grunted. "Ask the boss when you see him." He stepped aside to let his buddy drop Finnick on the floor and take off his packet. Then they walked out, closed the door and locked it without another word. Nick looked around the room, but the only thing other than the door was a ceiling vent even Finnick wouldn't fit into.

Finnick was the first to comment. "Well, shit."

"Shit on a stick." Nick added.

Finnick dropped down by the wall and crossed his arms. "So, while we're stuck here waiting for death by evisceration by a ruthless psycho-lar bear…"

"Will you stop bringing up the stupid evisceration story?!"

"Sorry. While we're stuck here waiting for a horrible, painful death, what is that thing you put on?" Finnick's large ear twitched and he glanced at the wall behind him.

"This?" Nick pulled his sleeve back down to reveal the plastic gauntlet-like thing he'd found while they'd scrounged through Honey's bunker looking for something other than pop tarts to take with them. "I think Honey built this to help Skyefall on her mission. She called it the 'Mag-Ryder.' I figured it would help us get across town, but I forgot all about it."

"How did you think it would help us?" Finnick asked dryly.

Nick shrugged and turned his arm over. On the side was something that looked like a sci-fi turret. Up top was a metallic thin tube. What the heck was this thing?

He thought of the things he'd heard Honey mention while working on this Mag-Ryder. Much of it had been technical jibber jabber, but there had been something about some top-secret military tech she'd bought off a fellow conspiracy theorist; customizable targeting software so advanced that whatever device it attached to would never miss. It had been just what she needed to perfect the Mag-Ryder.

"Some sort of gun, maybe?" Nick felt around the device for a trigger. Finding nothing, he bent his arm straight up at the elbow- _breeep!_

Nick blinked in surprise at the hoarse beep; on one end of the metal tube was a red light that went out as soon as he lowered his arm.

"Nick, the way you had your arm just now- do it again!" Finnick said.

Nick bent his arm straight up- _ breeep!_ The red light returned.

"Hey, look up!" FInnick pointed up. Nick saw then that he was standing right beneath the ceiling vent. The fox aimed his arm away from the direction of the vent. The light went off. Nick aimed back the vent and- _breeep!_

Finnick scratched his head. "Whaddya think that means?"

Nick tried it one more time, just to be sure it was the vent the Mag-Ryder was reacting to. _Breeep!_ "Quit it, those assholes might hear tha- there it is again!" Finnick spun round to the wall behind him.

Nick nearly asked what Finnick was talking about before he froze. "I hear it too."

It was faint, so faint it didn't quite sound like scurrying, but it was definitely coming from inside the wall. The sound moved upwards, quieting for a moment when it reached the top of the wall, then continued across the ceiling before coming to a stop at the ceiling vent. Nick stepped back slightly so he could tilt his head back less painfully, while Finnick pointlessly stood up. The vent cover was too high up for Nick to properly see what was going on there, but he did hear a hissing sound, far more audible than the previous sound but not loud enough to draw their captors' attention. Nick's eyes narrowed when he saw one of the gaps in the vent cover widen, focusing his vision enough to see that one of the flat bars in the grille had been removed.

Something slowly inched its way through the wider gap, something, flat and rectangular. It fell through the air between Nick and Finnick and hit the floor with a light thud. Nick stared at the vent, but saw nothing of whoever had made the abnormal delivery. When he looked down, Finnick was bending down to pick up the object, which he now saw was a playing card.

"Queen of Spades." Nick muttered, bending down before Finnick. "Hey, what's that on the back?"

He pointed at the little black object stuck to the card with sticky tack, but Finnick seemed more interested in the other side. "Carrots knows the truth. Trust her. Red Queen."

Nick stared at Finnick. "What?"

Finnick turned the card so Nick could see the message written in bright red. He couldn't believe what he was reading. Carrots knows the truth? What truth? Did she know more than she let on? What the everlasting fuck was going on here?

Nick heard Finnick pull the item off the other side of the card and turned his attention to that, now desperate for answers. It was a tiny headset, almost similar to those worn by the jackass bankers who had rejected his Wild Times proposal one after the other. It was the kind that consisted of a little plastic box and a microphone, intended to fit inside the ear like an earplug. Finnick turned the little headset around in his paws. "Nick, didn't the news say that someone made your convoy crash the night you escaped?" Nick nodded. Finnick made a small sound of curiosity as he held out the headset. "I think you're meant to have this, Nick. Someone really doesn't want you locked up."

Nick had no idea how this thing worked, but nevertheless he fitted it into his ear. When nothing happened, he pressed the button.

"That's only for answering phone calls, moron." Finnick said.

Nick held up a finger. "Shut up a sec. I'm hearing a funny crackling sound…"

_"__Crackling sound? Who is this?"_ Came a voice through the headset.

Nick's jaw dropped. "Carrots?"

Judy's response sounded just as astonished. _"Wilde?! Is that you?! How did you get this number?!"_

"Hell if I know! I just got given this headset, I pressed a button and next thing I know you're shouting in my ear!" Nick paced the room, ignoring the questions of a bewildered Finnick.

_"__Headset? Who gave you a headset?"_

"Long story!" Nick said.

"Keep your damn voice down!" Finnick pointed furiously at the locked door.

Nick nodded, apologized quickly and lowered his voice. "It's the bunny cop. I think this headset's connected to her phone."

_"__How did you get this number? What's going on?"_ Judy fired her questions like a handgun on burst mode. _"Wilde, are you alright? Where are you?"_

_Am I alright? That's a weird question to ask. _"Uh, I'm fine. Sort of."

_"__Sort of? I got an…"_ Judy paused._ "… an anonymous tip claiming that Koslov is holding you prisoner. Is it true?"_

"Y-yeah." Nick said. "No idea where, though."

_"__The tip said you're being held in a derelict apartment block called Glacier Heights. Can you describe the place you're being held in? Are Koslov's men nearby?"_

"I'm in a windowless room. Probably used to be storage." Nick wasn't sure why he was so ready to answer her questions, and apparently neither was Finnick.

"What're ya doing, ya idiot?" Finnick growled. "She's ZPD, remember? We can't trust her!"

"You're not gonna call TUSK in, are you?"

_"__Heck, no!"_ Judy snapped. _"Uh, I mean, TUSK's got their hooves full with the turf war going on."_ There was a pause. _"Sergeant Higgins, you saw how they acted at the Arctic House! You know what Cunninghorn did! You know we can't trust them to take Wilde alive!"_

Nick raised his eyebrows. "Wait, what did Cunninghorn do?"

Judy didn't answer at first. "Never mind that now. Just sit tight, we'll get you out of there soon."

Nick glanced at Finnick. "Out of the frying pan and into the jail cell, huh, Carrots?"

_"__Don't call me-"_ Judy stopped and took a deep breath. _"Look, if you're going to get out of this alive you're going to have to trust me."_

Nick looked down at the card Finnick was still holding and its crimson message. He looked at the locked door, through which Koslov could come storming through at any moment to rip the foxes' guts out. Finally he looked at Finnick, who was just as much a victim of Nick's mistakes as Benjamin was. "Fine. I trust you."

"No, you do not!" Finnick protested.

"Shut up, Fin! This may be our last chance!" Nick snarled down at him.

Why was he trusting Judy Hopps all of a sudden? Was it desperation at his current predicament? Or maybe he was just happy to hear the voice of someone who didn't want him dead, even if she was the carrot-choked Inspector Javert of Bunnyburrow. In any case she sounded almost relieved when she spoke again._"Wilde, Higgins has just called in backup, but with Zootopia in the state it's in, it might be a while before they arrive."_

"Why am I not surprised?" Nick spoke snidely at first. "Wait, what's going on with Zootopia?"

There was another short pause. _"Long story."_

"Well, you just said backup might be a while. We've got time." Nick and Finnick sat down before the wall, eyes on the ceiling vent. Whoever had sent the headset seemed to be long gong. "Tell me everything, and then I'll tell the fascinating tale of how I got your number, even though chances are you won't believe me."

_"__Try me."_ Judy said.

Nick felt a sting of bitter anger. "You sure as hell won't believe me about the big bad wolf."

_"__Wilde, you-"_

"Ah Jesus, here we go." Nick crossed his arms. "Ever since you booked me for Wild Times you've done nothing but give me grief for being a lying, no good fox. 'It's your fault you're so untrustworthy.' 'None of this would have happened if you hadn't been pretending to make an honest living.' 'You've been running an enterprise built on fibs, so why would we believe another word you say?' I don't need another lecture on why it's impossible to believe a word I say, Carrots."

_"__But I do believe you, Wilde."_

"Yeah, whatever- what?"

Judy's response sounded nearly lachrymose. _"You don't know, do you? Don't you read the news?"_

"Where I was hiding the last three weeks, news is considered sheep propaganda." Nick was unsure where this was going.

_"__Your friend Clawhauser was attacked in his safe house by an unidentified assailant."_

"No." Nick couldn't help the little whimper in his voice.

_"__He wasn't hurt, thank goodness, but Captain Bogo had been called to the scene by Commander Cunninghorn. It turned out to be a trap. Cunninghorn tried to kill him and make it look the assassin did it."_

"But it didn't work." Nick said, recalling Gabe mentioning Bogo's stay at the Tundratown General Hospital being extended a fortnight ago.

_"__No, it didn't. And it… it turned out that the assassin was a wolf matching your wolf's description."_

Nick had mixed feelings after that; first, smug gratification at being proven right, and then horrified guilt at hearing yet another consequence of his actions.

_"__That wolf and Cunninghorn might never have gotten as close as they did if I'd just believed you."_ Judy's remorse seemed genuine. Nick could hear it in the way she fought back tears. That genuine remorse had him at a loss for words. _"We should have believed you. I should have believed you. If we had, Captain Bogo might never have been attacked. I wish I were standing in front of you right now so I can tell you how sorry I am. I'm sorry, Wilde. I'm so sorry."_

Nick scratched his ear in discomfort. "Sounds like you should be giving those apologies to your Captain. You really like the guy, dontcha?"

_"__He gave me a chance, Nick. The day we first met, that was exactly one week after he told me he'd spoken to the chief about getting me out the clown vest. So yes, I like him."_

Nick couldn't help himself. "He's a Cape buffalo, right? Wouldn't he be a little big for…"

_"__Zip your lip, Wilde!"_

Nick snorted.

Judy huffed through the headset. _"Now back to you. How did you get this number?" _Nick didn't answer._ "Wilde?"_

"Sorry, Carrots. Should I tell you before or after I zip my lip?"

Nick heard a guttural growl, evaporating his amusement like water on magma. He and Finnick spun their heads to the door, only to see it was still shut and silent. Nick blinked and realized the growl had come from the headset.

_"__Stop being sassy and answer my questions."_ Judy snarled.

Nick gulped and started talking, fully understanding for the first time that Judy Hopps was anything but a token bunny.


	14. Jack II

_"__Question One: what happened?"_ Miss Morton borderline snarled through her personal com-link, making Jack wince. _"Question Two: what the fuck happened? First you lose the disk, then you end up having to tell Swinton a cock and bull story for why you're extending your stay in the city, then a pack of western terrorists storm in and-"_

Alyssa leaned in and spoke before Jack could stop her. "If you'll belt up for one second, he can tell you."

_"__Excuse me?! Who is that?! Agent Savage, who is that speaking on this line!?"_

His head throbbing from his recent sedation, Jack physically held Alyssa's mouth at bay as he answered. "That would be Agent Skyefall from ZI6."

Morton did not like that answer. _"Do not tell me that was the vixen who stole your intel."_

Alyssa forced Jack's paw down. "Technically I duplicated it."

Jack would have smacked his forehead had both paws not been full. Instead he gave Alyssa a look. "_Stay out of this_."

It was a look usually reserved for soon-to-be victims who deserved worse than death at Jack's hands, so it was enough to make Alyssa shrug and back off.

Jack sighed and returned to the com-link. "Sorry about that. It's liked being allied with a bunch of kids."

_"__For the last time, what happened?"_ Miss Morton asked slowly and angrily.

"At first I thought it was a robbery in progress." Jack said. "I was unarmed at the time, and I was darted before I could even call the police to let them handle the matter. When I came to, the invaders were gone and nothing had been taken. Instead more than half the prey mammals taken hostage were fixed with black TAME collars."

_"__Were you…"_

"No, I'm mercifully collar-free."

The silver lining seemed to calm Miss Morton. _"Good, good to hear. What's happening now?"_

Jack looked through the narrow gap between two massive slot machines and quickly scanned the rest of the massive casino and adjoining bar; the edgy ex-hostages were being tended to by paramedics on chairs and couches, the collared ones being figuratively quarantined from the others via the lounge area in between. Bisoniing sat among them, his face a picture of displeasure. Being forced to sit among the lesser mammals, with a TAME collar around his neck, was doing no wonders for his pride. The ZPD officers were watching all the exits as far as Jack could see, waiting for the ZBI to arrive and assume control of the investigation. Alyssa was nearby perusing a disposable phone. "Basically the hotel's on lockdown. No-one goes out and no-one goes in. So until the higher ups say otherwise Skyefall and I are basically stuck in here."

_"__God damn it."_

Jack's ears fell flat at the tone of disappointment in her voice. "I'm biding my time until the ZPD allows us to leave the building, but as I haven't been collared I'll be allowed to return to my room once they finish searching it."

_"__They're searching your room?!"_

"They're searching everyone's rooms, ma'am, in case this was an inside job. The warrant was issued almost instantaneously."

_"__That fast? Swinton must be quite on edge to go over their heads like that. Have you contacted Llater yet?"_

"Not yet. I'll debrief him as soon as I can."

_"__You'd better. Leave this to the ZBI. I want you to go straight back to finding Slothfeld's disk as soon as you are allowed to leave, is that clear?"_

"Yes, ma'am."

_"__Good. The safety of our nation is riding on this, Savage. Don't let us down. Morton out."_

Jack put away the com-link. Alyssa raised a paw. "Permission to speak now?"

The rabbit narrowed his eyes. "No."

"Well, seeing as you're not the boss of me I'm gonna talk anyway." Jack couldn't help but smirk at the vixen she leaned against a slot machine built for a rhino. "While you were busy placating her prissy royal highness…"

"Prissy? You heard her say the F word louder than the bells of Notre Dame."

"Anyway, I answered a text Honey sent me while we were both out cold. She's spent the last few days hacking and searching the traffic camera footage of the Arctic House, and she's figured out who found the disk- I mean ring."

Jack's droopy ears shot straight back up. "Finally some good news! Who is it?"

Alyssa leaned forward. "It's-" Jack's com-link cut her off with a sharp beep. "Unbelievable!"

Jack sighed deeply. "Please, please be quiet this time." He tapped the button. "Yes, ma'am?"

_"__That's sir to you, Agent Casanova!"_

Jack raised his eyebrows. "Llater?"

_"__If you picked up the phone, that means you're alright."_ Llater said._ "I heard the Palm Hotel was one of the buildings that were hit. You didn't get yourself collared, did you?"_

"I'm fine." Jack said. "What's happening at City Hall?"

_"__Swinton's fine, unfortunately. She's back at City Hall assuring everyone she's got the situation under control. Bellwether and about thirty others got collared when the debate was interrupted so they're staying put at ZNN."_

"One of the buildings? What else was attacked?"

_"__Two sites were attacked in every district in the city. For each district, one unimportant site was either bombed or burned to divert the ZPD's attention while another site was raided with those collars."_

"Every district?" Jack would have been impressed had it not been the work of terrorists. Alyssa on her part looked troubled. "Sounds like the work of a small army."

_"__I've been doing a little reconnaissance since Swinton and the Triumvirate got back, and they're pretty much in the dark as to who's responsible."_ Llater said. _"They do have two suspects though. Swinton's pretty sure Slothfeld's double crossed her somehow. Pottermass agrees with her, but…"_

"But?" Jack asked.

_"__Llamadaeus thinks it's Liberum come back from the dead."_

Alyssa scowled, mirroring Jack's own reaction. "What makes him so sure it's Liberum?"

_"__There have been rumors going about for years that not all the Liberum members were wiped out."_ Llater said. _"You're ZIA. You must have heard them yourself."_

"Yes, but they were more theories than rumors." Jack said. "Allegedly it was too dangerous to retrieve the carcasses to do a thorough body count. Still is according to the latest reports." Alyssa's scowl turned curious, but she didn't interrupt.

_"__If it's true, then this could be Roarcadia all over again."_ Llater's tone took a hard edge. Jacked shared his trepidation. _"What do you suggest we do about it?"_

"I have my orders. I'm to focus on my mission and leave this case in the ZBI's hands."

_"__I assume by ZBI, you refer to I."_ Llater said.

"Don't sound too excited." Jack said sardonically. "Just gather up as much information as you can until the ZBI investigators arrive. Find out if Liberum is indeed behind this. Savage out."

With the com-link quiet at long last, Jack fell back against the cool metal pole of a slot machine stool and slid to the floor. "For crying out loud, what next?"

Alyssa edged herself to his side, a scowl still on her snowy face. "Zootopia becomes another ghost city."

Jack nodded, keeping his sight above the vixen's raised knees. She sitting in a position that would have exposed her underwear for all to see has she not been wearing pants. Jack thanked God for that- now wasn't the time for Bond-style carnal shenanigans- and added to her statement, "Another mammal-made disaster for the history books."

They sat there silently for a while, listening to the indiscriminate voices around them. Alyssa occasionally touched her thigh, likely missing her weapons. She'd been forced to remove and hide them when the police arrived. Jack's own gadgetry was fortunately well hidden in his room up top. He wasn't worried about the officers likely still searching his room at this very moment. The vibrant lights of the casino flashed all around them like a thousand silent alarms.

"I was little when Roarcadia fell to ruin." Alyssa said. "What happened there?"

"You never read the report?" Jack asked.

"It was never relevant to the missions I'd taken until now."

"What do you know?"

"All I know is that a couple of decades ago, a group advocating predator rights went bad and turned Roarcadia into a second Chergnawbyl."

Jack nodded. "Not quite. A nuclear meltdown was involved, but that meltdown was just the start."

He'd read the report a couple of years ago before he'd been dispatched on a mission to hunt down an international criminal hiding in the exclusion zone in Pawpyat. Roarcadia had initially started as a large fishing village on a small island situated between Miami and Cuba Hutia, founded not long after predator and prey first started making alliances. It was the arrival of the industrious Swinton family, wielding considerable power and influence even way back in the 1950s thanks to investments in countless businesses, which instigated the rapid urbanization of the little town in a city bearing a population of nearly 200,000. By the 1970s, more than two thirds of the properties within Roarcadia were owned by the Swintons, including a nuclear power plant that had been constructed on the outskirts of the city in 1982 to account for the amplified need for power.

It had been one of the top ten cities to live in once upon a time. The brochures had gone on and on about the natural beauty of Roarcadia; Royal Palms as tall as Redwoods; beaches whiter than a yacht's sail; a sunset brighter than a sparkling topaz. The brochure had also conveniently left out the part about the institutionalized speciesm, elitism, and subjugation of the predator working class.

The use of predators as cheap, expendable labor, however, had not gone unnoticed. In fact, it was the cause of Roarcadia's downfall.

In response to the suppression of predators, harsh even by Animercia's standards, a predator rights group called Liberum rose up in protest. Their intentions had been noble at first: to raise public awareness of the cruelty that simmered beneath the city's façade, and the elitist swines at the top of it all. They advocated peace and equality above all, and their protests rarely turned to violence. That all changed about twenty years ago.

"We'll never know exactly why Liberum did what they did." Jack said to Alyssa. "But they not only brought down one of the most famous cities in the states, they set prey/predator relations back by decades."

"My colleagues in ZI6 think Liberum were a bunch of duffers." Alyssa spoke, her tone an indicator of what she thought of their opinion. "They'd tried to make the nuclear reactor explode with enough force to wipe out the entire Bahamanatees but they couldn't even get that done."

"Your colleagues are thinking of nuclear _bombs_, Alyssa." Jack said with a roll of his eyes. "Nuclear meltdowns are called meltdowns for a reason; when a nuclear reactor gets too hot, it melts, specifically the fuel rods within said reactor. When Liberum attacked the power plant, they strategically targeted the reactor's coolant system and other safety measures that were in place. With those systems put out of commission, the reactor melted."

"But it shouldn't have effected the entire island, right?" Alyssa said. "The plant was built to deal with that kind of stuff."

"According to the results of the investigation afterward, enough radiation managed to escape the plant to affect mammals within a quarter mile radius. Apparently…" Jack put particular emphasis on that one word. "Predators were affected a little differently than prey were."

Alyssa stared. "They couldn't have."

"I forget the exact details, but when the predators started to deteriorate from ARS, their minds deteriorated with them. They reverted back to their primitive savage ways and started attacking on sight. About four weeks after everything went down, reports came in that the power plant's containment procedures had somehow failed. In the end, the United States Government accepted Thomas Swinton's proposal to forcibly evacuate the entire island. The savage predators were culled, the city was sealed off, and no-one has been there since, yadda yadda."

"Thomas Swinton? Wasn't that Mayor Swinton's grandfather?"

"Yes, he was Mayor of Roarcadia at that time, and his son Theodore and granddaughter Tilda were both members of the municipal government under his command. They'd been evacuated the day the power plant's containment failed. A couple years later they moved to Zootopia, started from scratch by setting up supermarkets and the rest is history."

"Honey said Starlight and Commissioner Elba were both Roarcadia survivors." Alyssa said. Jack's ears perked. He'd never read the list of the survivors and the deceased. "Elba had been a police lieutenant back then, and Starlight's parents were both Liberum members. They died in Roarcadia when the radiation drove the predators into a killing frenzy."

"That's rough." Jack said. He heard a minor commotion and looked back through the gap between the slot machines.

"If Liberum really is back from the dead," Alyssa paused. "then what will that mean for Mayor Swinton?"

Jack spied an argument kicking off between Bisoniing and a boar officer near the bar, but two other officers were already marching forward to assist with the situation. Just as Bisoniing reluctantly conceded to their orders to sit back down, the doors connecting the casino to the lobby opened.

"Jack, are you listening?"

"Hold on." Jack said quietly. "I think the cream of the crop has just arrived."

A herd of cold-faced mammals wearing ZBI jackets were striding into the room, their eyes scanning the place and sizing up the situation even as the Police Chief of Precinct Two debriefed them on everything that had happened before their arrival. Jack counted two rhinos, one hippo, a horse, a boar and two pigs. The Chief of Precinct Two was a giraffe with an unusually short neck, flanked by two ram officers, one black with big curly horns, one white with a crooked nose…

Jack froze when he saw the crooked nosed white ram. "Fuck."

He felt Alyssa slink to his side. "You know, I think that's the first time I heard you actually curse."

"For good reason." Jack pointed out the white ram while lowering his head behind one of the thick cables providing power to the slot machines. "That ram… he's an imposter."

Alyssa eyed the white ram. Jack watched her sky blue eyes widen in realization. "It can't be."

"Ramses." Jack growled and clenched his fists. "Doug God-Damn Ramses."

"Huh." Alyssa looked to Jack. "Nose aside, he looks pretty good for someone who got kicked off a tower by a giant rusty church bell."


	15. Gabriel II

Gabe silently followed the black bear through the opulent hallway, ignoring the chill in his feet each time he stepped in the powdery snow that lightly covered the carpet, not stopping until they reached the door to Mr. Big's office. The black bear stepped aside to let Gabe enter alone. Gabe hesitated, thinking that this was a first, before entering the office anyway.

Mr. Big and his tiny swivel chair were already atop his disproportionally large desk. Gabe stopped at the edge of the rug concealing the execution pit when he saw spots of blood staining it. He looked up at Mr. Big and felt the rage emanating from the tiny tuxedoed, elderly rodent even without seeing the ominous yellow glow coming from his collar. In an instant the feline was on edge, paws itching to pull out his hidden kukris or the Mossberg 590 shotgun strapped to his back, wondering what he had done wrong.

"Thank you for coming so quickly." Mr. Big said and held out his paw.

Gabe pointed downward after kissing the shrew's ring. _Two bears on the couch nearby. Four more outside. Odds aren't that good, but screw that. _"What happened here?"

Mr. Big leaned forward in his chair and looked at the rug. "The sole survivor came at once to inform me of the incident at Viracocha Arcade, with a crude dressing completely soaked through. He's on his way to the hospital now."

"I thought all your enforcers were killed in the shootout?"

"One was in the restroom when the ambush occurred. A stray bullet pierced the door and struck him. Non-fatally, thank Heaven. One is better than none at all."

"I agree." Gabe nodded, thinking of Lance, safe in Honey's bunker while Starlight was still god knows where. When he'd heard the news that their mission to find Starlight and Slothfeld had been delayed, he'd been so angry that he'd thrown something into one of the mirrors in the Overlook's public restroom. Now that he knew Mr. Big's anger wasn't directed at him, he moved his paw away from his kukri. "But what does this have to do with me?"

"Nobody slaughters my finest personnel and gets away with it. It's time you earned your privileges." Mr. Big's eyes glinted beneath his massive eyebrows. Gabe waited for him to explain how. "I know you can find those responsible. You have resources, the mammals who helped you acquire the information on Koslov's car. Find the ones that did this. Make them pay."

Gabe already had a plan forming in his head. "Should I call you once I have their location?"

"They're a pack of nobodies. I don't care about where they're hiding. All I care about is where Koslov is hiding."

"Let me guess. I'm only to contact you if I find Koslov."

Mr. Big nodded. "Do this for me, and you will get a hundred for every mammal you kill. The hunt begins now."

With that he waved Gabe out of his office.

Once he was off the estate, Gabe called Honey on his headset. Honey sounded like she'd gone through the ringer, but was coherent as she confirmed that Sherry was doing just fine with Lance. Then came the bad news.

_"__They got 'em."_ Honey moaned. _"They got Nick and Fin."_

"Who's got Nick and Fin?" Gabe asked.

_"__Koslov's boys. There was an incident at Viracocha Arcade… then they got 'em."_

"Alive or dead?"

_"__Alive. Maybe."_

Gabe sucked in a short breath. Maybe the news wasn't so bad. Maybe there was still time. "Honey, please tell me you're tracking them through the cameras."

_"__No, I'm watching Dove Island. Of course I'm tracking them through the cameras!"_

"And?"

_"__They're heading back to Tundratown. I'll update you when I find where they stopped."_

"Got it. I'm already in Tundratown, so I'm just going to sit tight."

_"__Good. In other news, I know who found the Data Disk. Mansa Bogo, the ZPD captain who kicked ass at the Arctic House."_

"That ZPD captain? I thought contrived coincidences only happened on TV."

_"__Actually there was that time someone just happened to wander onto the road in front of the convoy taking Nick to prison." _

"Honey! Focus!"

_"__Sorry. Anyway, as soon as we rescue Nick and Fin, the buffalo's apartment should be your next stop."_

Gabe already knew where most ZPD officers lived. "Understood. Has Alyssa been informed?"

_"__Called her a little while ago. She's stuck in the lockdown at the Palm Hotel, so it's just us for now."_

"Ok. I'll check on Bogo as soon as I can."

Gabe received his update while nursing a non-alcoholic cocktail in a quiet bar twenty minutes later: the gangsters had taken Nick and Finnick to a near-derelict street twelve blocks from his position, but didn't know which building. The next update came while he was on his way out: Nick had somehow got in contact with Officer Hopps and Sergeant Higgins, and a horde of ZPD officers were making preparations for a raid on an abandoned apartment block called Glacier Heights. That got Gabe running.

He reached the street within ten minutes, relieved to see that the police hadn't arrived yet. He did see the bumper of a cop car in a nearby alley. If he had been on street level rather than his vantage point atop an old pawnshop, they might have spotted him before he spotted them. The apartment block before him was eight floors of pure destitution. He tapped his headset.

"Honey, I need an ETA on that raid."

_"__Forty minutes. Twenty if they get some extra weapons sharpish."_

"Either way it should be enough time. And Alyssa?"

_"__I'm still trying to find out what's happening in the hotel, but I'm sure she's fine. Did you take my Mag-Ryder before you left? I can't find it anywhere and Sherry insists she never touched it."_

Gabe shrugged. "Nope. How're the kids?"

_"__They're fine. Sherry's worried about Nick and Fin."_

"Tell her I'm on my way to get them. I'm going in, Honey, so no distractions unless absolutely necessary."

_"__Good luck. Also, Sherry says hi."_

Gabe smiled. "Tell her I said hi, too. Mossberg out."

He took his finger off the headset and examined the challenge that lay before him. "Forty minutes. Twenty minutes. You got this."

He pulled a toy that he'd procured from an assassin he'd fought during a mission in Mooscow, a high-tech telescope with night vision. He looked over the building for a way in, eventually spotting an open window on the fourth floor. A wide-open window.

That was odd. Koslov must know that Mr. Big had more than enough resources to hire any assassin he wanted, so why would his men allow such a massive breach in one of their headquarters?

Hoping that it was just plain stupidity behind that open window, Gabe started looking for a way to get to it. As luck would have it, a fire escape fixed to the side of a neighboring building less than ten feet from the window. With no way to get to it from above, Gabe slid down a drainpipe back to street level. It took him seven precious minutes to get around the cop car without being seen and make his way up the fire exit. Once he was at the same height as the window, he looked through his telescope to make sure the room within was empty. The lights were bright, but there was no-one there. Gabe threw a grappling hook, getting it caught on the window the second time. In less than a minute, he was in.

"Honey, have you got the plans for the building yet?"

_"__Yep. According to Hopps' report, they're being held in a small windowless room with one door and a tiny vent in the ceiling."_

"Tell me there's only one room with that description."

_"__Sixth floor, east side. Glacier Heights was built around a concrete square. In that square is a mammalhole leading to the sewer. It's too small for you, but those two foxes should fit just fine."_

"Would this place have its own mammalhole key?" Gabe asked.

_"__The landlord kept one in a metal hatch in the courtyard. If you get Nick out, he should be able to pick the lock."_

"That sounds awfully convenient."

_"__Those goons probably keep it handy in case they need to hide something illegal. Alyssa once busted a drug lord who did the same thing."_

"Sounds good to me. What's the quickest way up there?"

_"__Try the elevators. If the lights are working, maybe they are, too."_

Gabe crossed the dingy little apartment, noticing used syringes here and there, and pressed his ear to the door. Hearing nothing, he opened the door by a crack and peeked through.

No-one in the hallway. Not yet, anyway. The feline crept down the hallway and found the elevators at the very end. It was only a matter time before a patrolling goon showed up, so he quickly pressed a button and hid behind a crushed cardboard box.

His instincts were right. When the elevator doors opened, Koslov and two black bears emerged and strode down the hallway past Gabe's hiding place.

"Did you take Anna and Morris to room eight-thirteen like I said?" Koslov asked while glaring straight ahead like a general on his way to declare World War III.

"Yeah, boss." The bear on the left said. "The room with the fire escape least likely to break off, but out of reach of anyone at street level, just like you wanted."

"Good. Let the fox cower for now. We have a more pressing matter to deal with."  
"That fancy pants rodent?"

"When he hears that his chief enforcers have all been killed, he will be looking for blood. We must prepare while we still can."

"The armory's right this way, boss."

Once they'd disappeared around the corner, Gabe turned his attention back to the elevator, only to see that the doors were shut, and he could hear the elevator making its way down.

His frustration didn't last long before he got an idea. Why go inside the elevator and risk getting cornered? With a kukri blade he pried the doors open and looked down into the dark abyss that was the dingy elevator shaft. Thick oily cables tightened with a quiver as the elevator began to rise back up. Watching it slide up out the darkness like a bad omen, the shaft echoing with sounds that did not quite sound natural, Gabe felt a sliver of fear for the second time that night. When he was young and still deeply troubled by the death of his mother, he'd taken to thrill seeking to get away from his pain. One of those thrills had been something the teens liked to call elevator surfing. Gabe had surfed an elevator only once, a fast one that went all the way to the top of a twenty-storey skyscraper in Doetroit. The elevator had been fast, much faster than he'd thought it'd be. He'd brought a torch with him, a little one that barely held back the darkness of the shaft as the elevator had rapidly descended. Instead of thrills, the hell-ride had filled Gabe with terror. He'd clutched a block-like thing he couldn't put a name on, frozen solid until the elevator had come to a stop on the second floor. Gabe had proceeded to get the hell out of there, his dumb teenage self thinking that next time he would simply try a slower elevator. Four days later he watched a news report of another teen losing his head doing the exact same stunt and swore off elevator surfing for good.

This elevator was old, noisy and slow in its ascent. Just as he'd preferred all those years ago. Gabe breathed in and breathed out. He'd promised himself he would never do something so stupid again. Two lives were at stake here, so he could make an exception just this once.

Gabe stopped onto the roof and immediately crouched in the middle, taking care not to get too close to the edge or the cables in the center. When he was high enough he stuck his kukri between the doors of the sixth floor and prized them open a crack.

He perked his ears, listening for signs of life on the other side. He heard the heavy breathing of a nearby bear. Patrolling, most likely. Gabe tapped his headset.

"Honey, I'm on the sixth floor. What now?"

_"__When you exit the elevator, you'll be in a hallway overlooking the courtyard I told you about. Take a left and then open the first door you come too. The storeroom should be the second door down after that."_

"Got it." The bear was still outside, so Gabe switched his headset to what he personally liked to call Tele-mode. "Mr. Big?"

There was a lapse in which Mr. Big made his way to answer the phone. _"Is that you Gabriel?"_

"You said to call you if Koslov showed up, and I have."

_"__Excellent."_

"He's in Glacier Heights, an old apartment block in Tundratown. He's preparing to make it his new headquarters." Gabe went on. "I think he's expecting retribution for the deaths of your enforcers."

_"__Hrm. Where is he now?"_

Gabe felt a jolt beneath his feet as someone stepped inside the elevator. "He was on his way to an armory when I saw him, with two bodyguards."

_"__Is that a problem?"_

"On it's own, no, it is not. But my contact warned me that the police found Koslov's location and are on their way to raid the place."

_"__Meaning it likely will not matter whether you eliminate him or not."_

Gabe swallowed and thought of the little polar bear cub two floors above him. When the elevator began to descend, he propped himself on the thin edge of the sixth floor door. "I'll try, sir, but I don't have much time. When the police arrive, I will have to get out whether I've killed Koslov or not."

_"__Kill him, and I will give you enough money to live comfortably with your new family for the rest of your natural life."_

Gabe heard the breathing outside stop suddenly. "I'll do what I can, sir. Wish me luck."

Trying not to think about how far down he would wall in the grimy dark shaft, Gabe forced the doors open the rest of the way, stepped in the hallway, and tripped over the body of the bear outside.

_What the-_

Once he regained his balance, Gabe knelt down and examined the body. The smell coming from the puddle of blood beneath the bear's neck was pungent, but he couldn't see a slit throat. He turned the bear's head, and then he found the slit at the back of the neck. Someone had slammed a blade with enough force to cut through the spine and kill the poor bastard instantly. Unorthodox, but more efficient than a long and messy death that a slit throat would have dealt. It was also something Gabe would have done.

Gabe looked around, noticing a line of grimy windows. He looked through to see another line of windows straight across and two more between that formed a large square. Gabe saw enough to understand that the building was shaped like a ring, with a main hallway for each floor forming a border around the central courtyard. He looked down to see the courtyard below. He found that half the windows had handles to open them with, which would prove useful once he found those foxes.

Other than the unfortunate bear he was alone. So what had happened here? In any case, sticking around would be unwise. Gabe turned left and cracked open the door Honey had directed him to.

One big bear was guarding a simple dirty door midway down the short hall. Gabe had to taken him out, and quietly, before he could sound the alarm. The curve of the kukri would be an inconvenience for his plan. Sheathing it, he pulled out his smallest throwing knife, put it in his best throwing paw, and in his other paw he pulled out a long straight knife. He picked his target, a faded poster covered in frost on the other end of the hallway. He opened the door the rest of the way, took aim, and threw the little knife with all his might.

The knife flew right past the guard's face, startling the bear into unwittingly turning his back on Gabe. Gabe struck swiftly and mercilessly, closing the distance between them and leaping up to slam the straight knife into the back of the bear's neck.

The bear went down the instant the blade slide through his spine, landing with Gabe atop his back with the knife still in his neck. He couldn't take the knife out. Not yet. The minor bloodbath in the other hall was bad enough, and he couldn't afford to spill much more blood, or the smell would be noticed. Gabe checked for a pulse, didn't find any, and decided against wasting precious time trying to pull the knife back out. He climbed down from the body and turned his attention to the locked door. He went through several knifes before finding one thin enough to slide through the lock.

He opened to door to find Nick and Finnick sitting on the floor on the verge of wetting their pants. When they recognized Gabe, they looked like the angel Gabriel had just emerged from a toilet.

"You?" Nick hissed.

Gabe shushed him with a finger. The ass chewing would come later. "Shut up and follow me."

Nick saw the dead bear outside, and his eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as he cursed.

"I said shut up!" Gabe snarled. He noticed the bigger fox was wearing a headset that didn't look like one of Honey's, but decided to ask about it later. "If you hadn't left the bunker it wouldn't have come to this! Now come on!"

Nick started to follow him from the room but Finnick was more reluctant, likely still recalling what they'd discovered about their feline acquaintance. Gabe chewed the inside of his mouth, grabbed the little fennec and threw him from the room.

They returned to the main hallway without incident, and to Gabe's relief the first body did not appear to have been discovered yet. "Honey, I've got them. You're sure about this place having a mammalhole key?"

_"__Pretty sure. Remember, it'll be in a metal hatch in a wall in the courtyard."_

Gabe looked through the window and spied a rusty metal panel fixed onto the frosty brick. "I think I see it, but it's padlocked."

"I can pick that if you've got a clip."

Gabe handed him a packet containing a lockpick set instead. "Have you used these before?"

To his credit Nick accepted the set with stride. "No, but, well, how hard can it be?"

"Not as hard as it sounds." Gabe agreed. He opened one of the dirty windows, wincing at the icy gust that hit him as it opened, hooked his spare grappling hook and dropped the rope over the edge. The rope stopped two feet above the ground, a height unlikely to break a leg. When he was sure the hook was secure, he indicated for Nick to go first and told him about the sewer that would be their way out. "It's too big for me, but I've got my own way out. Take this headset and Honey will help you from there."

Nick and Finnick looked at each other with mixed expressions of fear and guilt. "I'm sorry, Gabe. We both are."

"I appreciate that you were upset that me and Honey didn't tell you everything." Gabe said patiently. "But can you see now why I wanted to keep that information between me and her?" Both foxes nodded vigorously. "Good. When we get back we're going to have a talk about the necessity of keeping things on a need to know basis, but for now, get moving."

Nick made Finnick grab onto his back and climbed over the windowsill, with Gabe holding his arm in case he slipped. When the foxes were on their way down the rope he tapped his headset. "Honey, they're on their way into the courtyard. I'll update you once they're clear."

_"__That's great, but I'm listening to the police scanner and they're on their way. You might want to be outgoing in about seven minutes."_

"Got it." Gabe heard the beep of an incoming call. "Hang on, I think Mr. Big wants to talk to me." He switched calls while eyeing the windows for any goons that might spot the descending foxes. "Hello?"

_"__I heard the police are on their way. Have you eliminated Koslov yet?"_

"Not yet, sir. I'm still working on a plan to get him that doesn't involve committing suicide." Mr. Big actually chuckled at that. "I did manage to kill one of the bears who took out your boys."

_"__Good, good. You mentioned an armory before, Gabriel."_

"That's where Koslov was going when I saw him, sir. Why do you ask?"

_"__Two weeks ago, I received word of a black market shipment that we were unable to intercept in time. A cargo of shotguns, assault rifles, grenades and C4, in a volatile mix just waiting for an accident to happen."_

Gabe's heart pounded. He looked up at the ring of windows on the top floor above. Killing thugs was no big deal for him, even if he did eventually regret it later, but blowing up a building with who knows how many mammals, including a mother and child inside? How could he do something like _that_?

He caught movement at the bottom of his vision and looked to the ring of windows on the seventh floor, the one right beneath the top floor. A dark figure about Nick's size dropped from the ceiling in the hall. The figure straightened for a moment, rising into view behind one of the windows, and Gabe saw a black sweater, a black tactical combat helmet, and a very dark purple, featureless mask.

_"__Gabriel? Are you listening to me?"_

Gabe watched as the figure turned around and started doing something to the door behind them, and briefly glimpsed the tip of a thick black tail rising above the distant windowsill. "Sir, there's someone else here."

_"__Who?"_

"They're wearing a disguise, I can't tell. Did you hire someone without telling me?"

_"__No. Not for this."_

Gabe felt the weight on the rope disappear and looked down to see Nick and Finnick running for the metal hatch. When he looked back up, the figure was gone, and the door they'd been working on was open.

"I'm going to check it out. The police will make sure Koslov doesn't go anywhere."

Thankfully Mr. Big understood. _"Take this intruder alive if you can. They may be working for a third party."_

Gabe switched back to Honey's channel and watched as Nick removed the padlock and rummaged inside the hatch until he pulled out a thin black rod. He and Finnick raced over to the mammalhole, brushed away the snow that covered it, and started struggling to lift it.

Gabe waited until they managed to lift the cover completely, confident that there was no way Koslov's goons could recapture them now, then pulled up his rope. "Honey, they're clear. Did you see another mammal enter this place before I did?"

_"__Nope. Why, is there someone else there?"_

"Yep."

_"__Don't even think about following them! Those bastards from TUSK are almost there!"_

"I have to, Honey. I think I've encountered this guy before. When I was escaping from Founder's Mountain."

_"__That masked weirdo who almost killed you? For Christ's sake, please be careful."_

Gabe swung the hook up and succeeded in latching it to the seventh floor windowsill. He looked down one more time, saw that Nick and Finnick were long gone, and swung across to the opposite wall. He climbed up to the seventh floor, slid the blade of his kukri beneath the window, and raised it enough to climb inside. He retrieved his grappling hook and turned to the open door. Inside was a dimly lit stairwell. Gabe thought of the open window on the fourth floor. The dead bear outside the elevator on the sixth. The open door on the seventh. Whatever this mammal was after, it had to be on the top floor. Gabe climbed the stairs, avoiding the middle of the steps so they wouldn't creak and draw unwanted attention. On the eight floor, he entered the hallway and sniffed the air, hoping to catch a scent of the intruder. He caught it, faint and familiar, and felt his heart jump. He followed the scent to a partially open door; room eight-thirteen.

When he entered, he heard the slightly distorted sound of an old television. The tiny hallway had three doors, and two were open: the door at the end leading to a small bathroom, and another flashing white and grey in the light of the unseen television. On the floor was the motionless form of a female polar bear in a blue sweater and skirt.

Horrible thoughts of a potentially innocent life snuffed out for no good reason filled Gabe's head as he stalked toward the bear that had to be Anna and felt for a pulse. It was strong, thank God, but the poor woman didn't even moan at the touch. Gabe smelled blood and saw the wound on her temple. Depending on how long it had been since she was knocked unconscious, she may need a hospital.

He heard a muffled cry coming from the open, flickering door. He passed Anna and peeked around the doorframe.

The television, currently displaying an old children's problem he'd never seen in Gabe's own childhood, flashed muted colored light over the couch and coffee table on the other side of the living room. Lying on the couch was the polar bear cub, Morris, and holding a gloved paw over his mouth was the purple-masked intruder, her other paw sticking a syringe into his neck.

Gabe took a moment to examine the intruder. He couldn't see any exposed fur, but the figure was definitely vulpine. Female, judging from the thin waist and wide hips. The bushy tail was clothed in black cloth to contain any shed hairs.

Skyefall. It couldn't be. No, it couldn't be. She was still trapped in that hotel. The scent wasn't hers. No, this was someone else.

Morris's struggles weakened as whatever sedative the intruder had injected did its work, and the figure pulled out some kind of strappy harness. Gabe stepped over a floor lamp that had been knocked over, a kukri in one paw and a silenced pistol in the other, and cautiously entered the room. The intruder placed the harness around the little cub and fixed him to her back., Gabe clenched his teeth in paternal anger, raised the pistol and opened his mouth to let the intruder know she wasn't alone.

Distant hurried footsteps stalled whatever he'd been about to say, and the intruder turned their head. They froze for a second or two before throwing a blade in Gabe's direction. He deflected the projectile with the pistol in the nick of time, at the cost at having the firearm knocked from his paw. The intruder started running for the window with Morris on her back, and Gabe raced after her. He couldn't risk using his kukri with Morris in the way, and instead he grabbed at the sleeping cub. The intruder spun around and landed a sharp jab at Gabe's jaw, but the weight on her back ruined her momentum. Barely fazed by the blow, Gabe threw a stronger punch at her, striking her in the side of the tactical helmet and partially dislodging it. The figure swung a large bloodstained knife at his throat, missing when he threw his head back, and used the distraction to kicked his legs from under him. Gabe's shoulder hit the coffee table on the way down and he let out a growl of pain. As he started to push himself up with his better arm, he glared at the back of the intruder as they pulled the window open.

Peeking out from beneath the lop-sided helmet was a thin blond ponytail.

Gabe felt his blood turn to ice. "Starlight?"

The masked vixen did not respond, and in a second she and Morris were gone.

Before he could even begin to process what had just happened he heard a bang as the front door slammed open.

"Mrs. Polarnova, we've gotta go! The fuzz are here, I don't know- what the fuck?!"

Gabe got to his feet as a polar bear rushed to Anna's side back in the hall, and a second bear stormed into the living room and spotted the feline. "You! What did you fucking do?!"

Gabe ran for it, vaulting through the window and slamming it back shut to slow his pursuers. On the fire escape he searched for his wayward wife, but she was nowhere to be found.

_Starlight… why…_

A paw through the window interrupted his thoughts and he threw his grappling hook onto the terrace of the neighboring building. When he was on the roof and out of the bears' reach, he tapped his headset and started sprinting. "Honey, you're not going to fucking believe this!"

_"__Not now! TUSK's just showed up on Koslov's doorstep! Get out of there!"_

Gabe stopped running, looked over the edge and saw TUSK vans screeching into the street. "What about Nick and Finnick?"

_"__They're still in the sewer! I've told them to come out in South Pole Avenue!"_

Gabe took a deep breath that shuddered with emotion. "I'll meet them there."

TUSK officers were piling out the vans when Gabe resumed his flight, leaping straight across the next alley onto a six storey building. South Pole Avenue should be straight ahead on the other side. The feline ran to the edge of the building, looked down and saw the mammalhole cover partially buried in snow in a wide alley full of chain link fences. One fence separated the end of the alley from the river that flowed through the district. Gabe started looking for something to attach his hook to. It may be because he was still reeling from what had happened at Glacier Heights, but he couldn't seem to find anything.

There was a grinding sound far below as the mammalhole cover started to rise. Gabe glanced over the edge to see Nick and Finnick emerging. He heard spurts of gunfire coming from where he'd just fled. "Honey, I see them coming out. Is the coast clear?"

_"__Not in a minute it won't! Some of the TUSKs are fanning out to secure the area! You've got to get them out now!"_

Gabe dug his paws into his skull. "I need to get down there first, you know!"

_"__Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!"_ Honey was shrieking.

_"__Language!"_ Sherry was yelling.

Down below, Nick and Finnick started toward the end of the alley, only for two TUSK razorbacks, one black and one brown, to appear and block their path. "Freeze, chompers! Hey, it's that fox!"

Gabe pulled the Mossberg 590 from his back at the same the razorbacks raised their assault rifles. Nick and Finnick raised their paws in surrender. "Don't shoot! We're unarmed!" The bigger fox begged.

The brown furred razorback looked at his comrade. "See that thing sticking out his pocket?" Gabe saw that Nick was carrying his lockpick set. "We can tell the Commissioner later that we thought he was about to pull out a gun."

The black furred razorback nodded. "Good idea. Aim somewhere random so they'll think we reacted instinctively."

Gabe cursed and took aim as Nick and Finnick shrank back in horror. "No." Nick started to beg. "No, wait!"

The razorbacks snorted and aimed for Nick's gut. "No more waiting, fox. The Mayor's tired of it."

"HOLD YOUR FIRE!" A little grey blur flew over the heads of the razorbacks, throwing off Gabe's aim, and landed in front of Nick and Finnick. Officer Judy Hopps held her paws out, her large purple eyes blazing at the officers. "What the sweet cheese and crackers do you think you're doing?!"

Nick stared down at the bunny. "Carrots? What are _you_ doing?"

"Nice to see you, too, Wilde!" Judy said with a scowl before returning that fierce glare to the surprised razorbacks. "You two! Give me one good reason why I shouldn't report you for police brutality!"

"You're kidding, right, cutie-pie?" The brown razorback said with a scoff.

Judy twisted her mouth. "My partner isn't far behind. When he gets here, we're going to take these foxes in. _Alive._"

"Get out the way." The brown razorback ordered.

"No!" Judy pulled out her dart gun. "You are not to lay a finger on them without good reason, no matter what the Mayor says!"

The razorbacks traded glances. "Just how much did you hear, bunny rabbit?"

"Enough to write a lengthy report to the Commissioner himself!" Judy answered defiantly. Gabe had a sinking feeling as he aimed for the head of the black razorback. Gunfire echoed like fireworks back at Glacier Heights.

The brown snorted, "Fuck this." and shot Judy in the face.

When Judy fell, Gabe thought that was exactly what had just happened, but then he saw Nick fall to the ground with her, a dark brown paw wrapped around her ears, as the short burst of bullets flew over their heads and caused sparks to fly from the fence behind them. Finnick let out a shriek that didn't match his baritone voice and dropped to the ground next to them as a wide-eyed Judy took aim. She fired twice, one dart striking her would-be killer in the knee, the other hitting the black razorback in his thigh at the same time he fell down screaming from a Mossberg slug striking him in the hoof. The three mammals below looked up at Gabe as he pumped the shotgun that shared his name. He aimed at the megafauna that raced into the alley in response to the gunfire, but restrained himself from pulling the trigger when he saw that it was Sergeant Higgins.

"Hopps?!" He yelled when he saw the fallen razorbacks. "What happened here?! What did you do?!"

"It's not what you think!" Judy pleaded.

"You shot our own people?!" Higgins yelled

"Your own people tried to kill her, you flabby fuck!" Finnick roared.

He and Finnick started to back away while Higgins was preoccupied with grilling Judy for answers. The foxes were almost to the fence overlooking the river when their retreat was noticed. "Hey, wait!" Judy yelled and ran toward them.

Gabe aimed his gun, intending merely to deter her from stopping them, but had to hit the deck when Higgins looked up and immediately opened fire.

"Hey, this thing's flashing again!" Nick pulled down his sleeve to reveal a black plastic gauntlet.

He_ took the Mag-Ryder?! Honey's going to kill him!_

"What were you pointing at?" Finnick asked desperately.

"I dunno, that sign, maybe." Nick pointed up at the thick cable that stretched across the river and the metal sign in the middle advertising the Animalia Arena with. A perfect target for the Mag-Ryder, Gabe realized. Honey said that the Mag-Ryder should beep when the user aimed their hand at an attachable target. To activate it, you had to shoot your arm straight out in a swift motion.

When Judy grabbed Nick around the legs to trip him up, he reflexively did just that.

It happened in a flash of black cable. There was a distant clang as the magnetic grapple struck the sign dead on. The motor within the gauntlet began to reel in the cable with the speed of an angle grinder. Nick and Judy were halfway to the ground when they suddenly found themselves flying.

Gabe's jaw dropped as he watched the two small mammals shoot up over the fence, over the river, then over the sign as the magnetic grapple detached and returned back inside the gauntlet with its cable. It was at the height of their arc that the screaming began. Nick and Judy flailed like toddlers, their screams faded by distance, before gravity took hold and plunged them into the river.

Higgins ran up to the fence and stared through the links in the river, too stunned by what had happened to pay attention to Finnick as he fled back into the relative safety of the sewer.

Gabe's headset beeped and Honey cried into his ear, _"Gabe! Did you get to them in time? Please tell me you got to them in time!"_

Gabe swallowed. "Not quite. They're fine, I think, but…"

_"__But what, Gabriel, but what?!"_

"No matter what I'm about to tell you, just remember to look on the bright side. We can now safely say that the Mag-Ryder works."


	16. Elba II

Commissioner Elba listened quietly, hooves clasped in front of his stiffened features, as TUSK Commander Davis Bowser and Sergeant Higgins took turns explaining the events of the recent incident at Glacier Heights. Chief Trunchbull stood between them, all the while looking like he'd just bitten into a sour crab apple.

'Took turns,' indeed. The two mammals spent over ten minutes caustically interrupting each other whenever the other mammal said something that contradicted their story. Bowser said Hopps had shot at them first. Higgins countered by claiming that they'd instead shot at her when she refused to let them fire on the fugitive foxes without provocation. Higgins said Bowser had been so focused on Wilde that he'd failed to capture the smaller fox when he had the chance. Bowser countered that Higgins had been right next to Finnick Courroux when he'd escaped. All the while Elba thirsted for a glass of cool water with aspirin and failed to determine who was speaking the truth.

It was roundabout when both mammals began to accuse each other of gross incompetence that the water buffalo decided that enough was enough. "Quiet, both of you!" He snapped, silencing them almost immediately. "This isn't getting anywhere. Without witnesses we have no way of knowing which one of you is telling the truth. Trunchbull, what is the condition of the two TUSK officers who were darted at the scene?"

"They're awaiting treatment for both the gunshot wound to neutralize the tranquilizers, Commissioner." Trunchbull said. "But I wouldn't advise taking their statements as gospel. They have the most to lose if we choose Higgins' side of the story."

"I know." Elba said, nodding. Bowser gave Trunchbull the stink-eye but said nothing. "Here's what we're going to do. Bowser and Higgins will give their statements in separate rooms, and the two TUSK officers will be held in custody until we get to the bottom of this."

"But sir!" Bowser started.

"No buts! And that goes to Hopps, too!"

"Sir, no-one has seen her or the fox since they fell in the river. We've lost the trail. " Trunchbull said.

"Then you'll pick that trail back up again, and quick!" Elba commanded. "And until we get the truth of what happened in that alley, TUSK will have no part in the search!"

"But-"

Elba turned his mounting wrath in the razorback's direction. "I said no buts, Commander! TUSK is deep enough in hot water as it is! Koslov was right there, he was right there in that apartment block, and you couldn't even get that done!"

"We would have gotten him if someone hadn't tipped him off! He was long gone by the time we got there!"

"Commander, enough!" Trunchbull barked. "If you will excuse us, Commissioner, we will be returning to the station now."

Elba nodded. At this point he just wanted them out of his office. "You are dismissed."

When they were gone, Elba turned to his intercom and asked his secretary if he could borrow one of the aspirins he kept under his desk. Naturally the secretary agreed.

"Thank you, Vincent. Before you come up, could you call the mayor's office and check on things?"

_"Right away, sir."_

Elba wearily leaned back in his chair and considered asking Vincent to print a sign for his desk stating 'No Arguments Allowed.' He didn't need the aggravation, he didn't want it, and he sure as hell wasn't going to have another. Not in his office.

Vincent Porcupin arrived with a small packet and a glass of water. "Your aspirin, sir."

Elba accepted it gratefully and dropped the pill into the water to dissolve. "What did Llater say?"

"If you're worried that Captain Bogo is stepping out of line, don't be." The porcupine with the little glasses said. "The mayor hasn't asked him and the lieutenant to leave yet, but Llater said he'll update me about that later."

She must be worried about what they'll get up to if she makes them leave, Elba thought. "Have Llater tell them that I want them both back in their offices at Precinct One, and to wait there until I've spoken with the mayor myself."

Vincent agreed and returned to his own desk. When he finished making the call, Elba grabbed his cane and set out to the mayor's office at the summit of City Hall. Fortunately for his leg, the closest elevator was not far from his office. He didn't see Bogo or McHorn on his way there, but he did see the llama at his desk in the wide shiny hallway before Swinton's office. "Is the mayor available, Mr. Llater?"

"Just a moment, sir." Llater pushed a button. "Mayor Swinton, the Commissioner is here to see you." He listened to her response before turning back to Elba. "The mayor will see you now."

Swinton was sitting at her desk, still dressed in the ruby red pantsuit she'd chosen as her outfit for the debate. It was torn at the shoulder, and there was a dressing on her forearm where a tranq dart had struck her. Elba was impressed that in spite of this she was still as composed as Ravel's Bolero.

Swinton looked up and grimaced when she saw him. Elba braced himself. "Good God, Commissioner."

"Ma'am?"

"Your face. It's a miracle he didn't give you a concussion."

Elba touched the side of his face where Cunninghorn had struck him prior to abducting Benjamin. It still ached at the slightest pressure. "Your trust is touching, Mayor Swinton. I trust that Captain Bogo and Lieutenant McHorn conducted themselves professionally?"

"Mostly they did." Swinton conceded. "But toward the end Bogo was getting visibly frustrated. I can't say I blame him."

"Did you answer any of his questions?" Elba couldn't hold back his own annoyance.

"How could I? I had nothing to do with what happened to that cheetah, or everything else that has happened in this city. I don't even have a collar."

"But Bellwether does." Elba spoke. "Some mammals might find that very convenient for you."

Swinton cocked her head and scrutinized him. "Are you one of those mammals?"

"I've decided to hold back on my opinion, for now."

Swinton seemed to accept that answer and gestured for him to sit in one of the chairs in front of her desk. Elba sat down. "Are you going to question me too, commissioner?"

"The city's in a crisis. The only question I have is what you're going to do about it." Elba leaned forward, propping his upper body on his cane.

Swinton tapped at the open notebook in front of her with a pen. "Predators are behind this. Only prey mammals were collared. It's obviously some sick, petty scheme to get back at us for repressing their basic instincts. I'd like you to put out an arrest warrant for every predator in the city until we find which ones are responsible."

Elba drummed his fingers on the cane. "You're telling me to persecute an entire minority."

Swinton dug the nib of the pen into the notebook. "I'm telling you to do what needs to be done, Elba."

"Arresting the entire community is stupid." Elba replied.

There was a muted crack as the pen nib broke. "What did you say?"

"Fascists are no different than fools. Are you a fool? Come on, answer the question!"

Swinton released the broken pen. "That community betrayed this city."

"And why would they do that?"

"Because they're terrorists."

"Why?"

"They don't like being collared. They can't accept that it's for the greater good."

"And what is the greater good?"

"Maintaining co-existence between predator and prey."

"Co-existence." Elba snorted. Swinton started looking through her desk, but didn't seem to find a pen. Having always kept a couple handy in his coat pocket, Elba passed one of them to her so she could continue expending stress on her note taking. "Swinton, you worry too much about other mammals outgrowing you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's something I've seen a lot in cases involving bigotry. I believe a socialist at our university even wrote a book about it a few years ago."

"Can you get to the point, please?"

"Apologies. The point is that many bigots feel the way they do because they're afraid of becoming minorities themselves. You've heard the complaints. Foreigners taking all our jobs. Educated elites looking down on the rednecks for using vulgar slurs such as 'pelts' and 'beefcake.' A common rat becoming President of the United States. According to the book, many mammals are concerned that as those of different species, religion and ethnicities gain social power, their social power is gradually waning."

"My social power is as strong as ever."

"Then why are you trying so hard to delay the inevitable? President Holloway has being working to get the collars abolished long before that pile-up happened, you know that. Permit me a small assumption: you're afraid of being left behind."

Swinton's features slackened for a little while before swiftly hardening again. "That doesn't make our family regime fascist."

"That's what your father and your grandfather wanted you to think." Elba was not going to pull punches on this one.

"But it's not."

"When Liberum started protesting the laws your father and grandfather set in place, didn't you try to stop them?"

"Of course I tried to stop them." Swinton rolled her eyes. "That was part of my job in Roarcadia."

"A leader who truly cares about their city would listen to all sides and try to act on their grievances, even as they understand that they can't please everyone." Elba's chair was on wheels, so he inched it closer to the desk. "I am thankful that you at least learned from Theodore's mistakes and revoked some of the crueler laws when you were elected to this office. I suggest that for now, we allow the ZBI to handle the terrorist attacks and focus more on the Tundratown war. If the ZBI ask for assistance, that's when we'll step in."

"I didn't realize you care so little yet so much for jurisdiction." Swinton said.

Elba snorted. "They're investigators, just like the rabbit from the Congressional Research Service. They're just as interested in us as they are in the terrorists. And every action we take could either endear us or doom us."

Swinton stopped scribbling. "Aren't you being a little dramatic?"

"Many a regime was toppled because they made too many enemies. Take Rudolf Hitler's regime for example. The atrocities committed in his name caused half the planet to rise up against him." Elba rested his arms on the desk, a foot away from Swinton's. "It's not just enemies. It's often the regime itself that defeats its creators. The Marmotoini Government failed because internal corruption almost destroyed its own economic system."

"So they almost ruined their own country, so what?" Swinton tapped the pen he had given her.

Elba sighed. "Dr. Lemming wrote reports on predator patients to deliberately make them appear unsympathetic on Theodore's orders, and since assuming power you've done nothing about it. Unemployment among predators is among the worst in the world, and those with jobs are working for cents."

Swinton waved her arm at the sparkling city skyline behind her. "That cheetah who was hired by Pottermass would disagree."

"And Cunninghorn made it very clear to him that Pottermass had ulterior motives for doing so." Elba said. The crow-lines around Swinton's eyes became more pronounced as her glare deepened, but Elba was not going to be cowed in sugar coating. "And I'm still not happy about all those reports I scrounged up the last few weeks. Dozens- no, hundreds of incidents of harassment, profiling, violence and unlawful death against predators, all dealt with internally without so much as a slap on the wrist. And you just sit there, wondering why anyone would want to attack your city?"

Swinton gripped the edge of her side of the desk tightly. Elba expected a threat, but the words never came. Then the blonde pig slumped in her seat, the pen resting loosely in her hoof, as she gave up on finding a defense against Elba's brutal and contemptuous condemnation of the system her family created. The commissioner paused at the sight. He hadn't seen her so crushed since the decision had been made to abandon Roarcadia. She had grown up there. It had been paradise to her. Blind as she'd been to the darkness beneath the sunny façade, the city had been her home. Now, on the eve of her reelection, she faced losing this home as well. Elba felt guilt tearing at his insides. In the heat of the moment he'd forgotten about the losses Swinton had suffered already; her father dying earlier this year; her friend Assistant Mayor Woolton eaten alive in a Bug Burga several weeks ago.

Elba reached out and draped a hoof over her arm.

"I know that nothing of what I've said is what you wanted to hear." He spoke gently. "But if I'm going to help you through this then I have to be a realist. Give the predators more grief is just going to hurt you in the long run. You're playing with fire, and I don't want to see you get burned."

Swinton ran her other hoof through her thick blonde tuft. "It may already be too late for that."

"But not too late for a little aloe vera to fix the damage." Elba internally cringed at his own metaphor. "When we moved on from Roarcadia and started anew here in Zootopia, the first thing you did was recommend that I become the new Chief of Precinct One."

"You earned it. Your strategic decisions in Roarcadia ensured that the damage did not spread to affect our neighbors." Swinton said with a hint of pride. "Not to mention that you personally evacuated my family when the city proved unsalvageable."

"That was my job, you know." To a certain extent, Elba still regretted being so quick to accept the decision. He had been a lowly sergeant back then, and the promotion had been such a huge jump that all his smarter acquaintances had warned him that he'd be in over his head. Elba had been, at first, but with the support of those who didn't resent him for his achievement he had managed. "Your family didn't make that job easy."

Swinton sighed. When her grandfather had claimed the mayor's office, he'd wasted no time using his political influence to enforce some of Roarcadia's more distasteful laws on Zootopia, up to and include permitting violence to keep predators in line; Elba had often rolled his eyes at hearing how Thomas Swinton had even made it illegal for predator and prey to shake paws. Then Theodore Swinton came to power and introduced the damned TAME collars, and then malfunctions and accidents started maiming mammals left and right. For years Elba had tried to counsel the Swintons, to make them understand that their narrow-minded cruelty would only create a new Liberum, but none of them had listened. Or so he had thought.

It had turned out that Tilda Swinton, young and eager to learn what it meant to rule a city, had a more pragmatic head on her shoulders. She'd stood to the side, almost out of sight, watching as Elba was routinely ignored by her stubborn elders. Thomas and Theodore had been adamant that their methods were right, but she'd listened and learned. She shared their beliefs, absorbed their spiel that a predator's best place was beneath a pig's hoof where they could do no harm, but at the same time she understood that it was their unnecessarily cruel means of oppression that drove Liberum to do what they did. When she took her father's place after his diagnosis, the first thing she had done was revoke the brutal laws allowing predators to be abused without the perpetrators being punished. She removed some of the most unbelievably corrupt bureaucrats from City Hall and replaced them with pragmatists that were less likely to stab each other in the back. Finally, she had Elba promoted to Commissioner and transferred his office a mere two floors beneath hers. Of course her decisions had not been universally accepted. They never are. But she was a Swinton, and most knew better than to mess with her.

Elba was about to say more, but then the intercom interrupted him.

_"Mayor Swinton, Mr. Pottermass has just arrived at reception."_ Llater said. _"Should I bring him up, ma'am?"_

Swinton tapped a button. "I'm a bit busy right now. Have him escorted to the Watering Hole. He can wait with Llamadeus until I'm ready."

"Yes, ma'am."

Elba eyed the intercom. "Isn't Llamadeus supposed to be under confinement with the other victims?"

Swinton shrugged. "I thought he would be more comfortable here. I've already hired some mammals to tend to his needs until this blows over." Elba gave her a look. "And I wanted him well away from Bellwether and her sycophants."

"How can you still be worried about that sheep after everything that has happened tonight?"

"Because I just know that bitch will find a way to blame me for this and put it in her damned paper!" Swinton hissed with unexpected ferocity, standing up and tapping her mayor's badge. "But I promise you now, there was always be a Swinton on this chair! She will not have it! No-one will sit here but me! So long as I still breathe air, she will not get this seat!"

Elba raised an eyebrow. "The way you talk about that seat, I almost see the words 'Siege Perilous' atop the backrest."

Swinton glanced at the backrest and turned back to the water buffalo with weary eyes. "Elba, why must everything be Arthurian to you?"

Elba smirked and twirled his cane like he's just pulled it from a stone. "We all have our quirks, Madam Mayor."

Swinton moved out from behind the desk. "It's time I met with Llamadeus and Pottermass. I'll need to arrange for Bisoniing to be brought here."

"I should being going to the precinct myself." Elba pressed his cane to the floor and stood up. When he blinked, his eyes didn't want to open. He checked his watch and saw how late it was. God, he was too old for all-nighters. But he had a job to do, and all the coffee in Precinct One to do it.

His first stop upon entering the station was to find Bogo and McHorn in their offices. When he got there, he found Higgins there with them, agitatedly cleaning a large gun as he vented to his comrades about the disaster at Glacier Heights.

Elba tapped his cane, alerting all three officers to his presence. "Officer Higgins, I have larger issues at present than having to listen to one of my officers use that language in my presence, so just this once I am going to forget you did."

Higgins' tiny ears flattened. "Sorry."

Bogo stood up and stopped just short of Elba's personal space. "Sir, it's the mayor. I'm sure she's involved somehow."

Elba was sure, too, but he kept that opinion to himself. "How, Captain?"

He was irritable from being up all night, but Bogo must have interpreted the commissioner's tone as irritation and him, because he immediately backpedalled. "Forgive me, sir. I know it's all conjecture, I shouldn't have said anything."

Elba pointed toward Bogo's private office at the back of the room. "You keep a recorder in your office, right? Tell me your thoughts. All of them."

Bogo and his comrades stared in bewilderment. It was yet another unorthodox action from the Police Commissioner, but the hell with that. Nothing in this city was orthodox anymore. Elba wanted to hear everything, every opinion, every theory. Anything that could help him make sense of all this madness, he wanted to hear it.

Once in the office, Elba sat down, glad to be off his tired, aching leg. "Go on, Captain. Why do you suspect her this much?"

Bogo looked uncomfortable as he sat down. "Have you ever heard of a Dr. Daniel Slothfeld?" Elba shrugged. "He was a sloth, a Boarlish neurobiologist and biochemist who died in a bombing two years ago. When that caribou, Antlerson was brought to the ER, my sister heard him say something about warning Dr. Slothfeld."

"Dr. Bogo stated he may have been delirious at the time." Elba started to ask if this was relevant to Swinton, when he froze. "Wait. When he abducted Clawhauser, didn't Cunninghorn mention a Slothfeld?"

Bogo nodded, his eyes full of hate. "Yes. When I asked the mayor if she knew who he was, she looked ready to have a stroke. Think about it, sir. Wilde said he was shot with a serum the night he went savage. If anyone had the skills to create such a serum, it would be Slothfeld."

Elba clenched his jaw twisted the cane into the carpet as fury threatened to take hold. What have you done now, Tilda?

"We need to find Slothfeld." Bogo urged.

"How?" Elba growled. "We have no leads. No concrete evidence. We have nothing but theories."

Bogo shook his head. "Who do we know has a connection to every major event that has happened in this city over the last few weeks?"

Elba shook his head. "I am in no mood for twenty questions, Captain."

"Whose disappearance started the conflict between Koslov and Mr. Big? Who is one of the missing predators that vanished over the course of two years, right after Dr. Slothfeld's supposed death? Who murdered the Assistant Mayor and targeted the key witness, the witness Cunninghorn is delivering to Slothfeld at this very moment?"

Elba felt a heat wave come over him, the kind that came with stress, and felt sweat start to form beneath his thick clothes. "That bear."

Bogo nodded fervently. "TUSK officers were killed by unknown assailants at a saw mill on Founder's Mountain. A jeep full of John Does was discovered by Officer Hopps not too far from there. We may find Sedor somewhere on that mountain, and possibly more evidence to prove my suspicions. We could even find where that backstabber took Ben."

"You want authorization to go to Founder's Mountain." Elba said.

"Sedor's up there, I'm sure of it!" Bogo hit the desk in his excitement. "He could be the key to understanding what the hell is going on in this city. We need Sedor, sir. We've got to find that crazy son of a bitch as soon as possible."


	17. Benjamin II

The ceaseless growl of a car engine rose up in Benjamin's ears, along with a throbbing headache from the tranquilizer, when the cheetah came round in the boot of Cunninghorn's stolen car.

He only knew he was awake because he could feel himself blinking. Not only that, he could feel duct tape across his mouth, and more holding his paws behind him. With that, the memories of what happened at the old jeweler's came rushing back.

_Oh God… Oh God…_

He pulled against the tape, but he may as well have been bound with steel chains. He had no idea if he was facing the back or the front. Was Bogo okay? Was Commissioner Elba still alive? Who was that feline in the blue hoodie? Where was the car going? What was Cunninghorn planning to do to him? Benjamin had no answer to any of those questions, only imaginations that sent him on the verge of a full-blown panic.

The car was moving at a steady pace- moving upwards. Benjamin could feel the floor of the trunk tilting beneath him, pressing his hip against some painfully protruding thing. The trunk was cold. Was he still in the Nocturnal District? Tundratown? The Meadowlands? Was he in Zootopia at all?

Benjamin stopped struggling when he felt the car slow to a stop. The engine made a brief clanking sound and fell silent. The car trembled when the driver climbed out and slammed the door shut. Benjamin shook with terror as he heard heavy footsteps crunching toward the trunk. With a clunk, the trunk lid rose to reveal Cunninghorn's hateful scowl.

"Ah, you're awake." The rhino growled. "Now I won't have to drag your flabby ass."

He reached in and grabbed Benjamin, his hoof still bloody from where that mysterious feline had stabbed him, and hauled the cheetah from the car. The first thing Benjamin saw was trees. Most of them were fir trees, tall and pointed like spires. They were no numerous and densely packed it was like looking at a wall, silhouetted almost pure black against the backdrop of night. The dirt path, patterned with Cunninghorn's tire tracks, looked bright and dry in the glow from the car's taillights. Benjamin was sure he'd been thrown into a van in the seconds before he'd fallen completely unconscious. The rhino winced and cursed the feline who had injured his hoof, grabbed Benjamin's arm painfully with his other hoof, and dragged him around to the front of the car. Benjamin gasped softly behind the tape.

Finnick had told him about this place the day he'd had his mandatory appointment with the late Dr. Lemming. "Who does he think he is, Dr. Fucking Frill?" Finnick had raged upon returning from the office. "I ain't going to no asylum! No Mount Founder's, no Cliffside, no nothin'!"

The car had stopped beside a stone block covered in moss, and engraved were the words MOUNT FOUNDER'S ASYLUM. Something brown and faded was splattered across the M and O letters, and something had gouged several deep gashes through the rest of the word. Benjamin took in the asylum itself as Cunninghorn dragged him forward. It was a huge building that looked to have been built in the nineteen-sixties, two stories tall and as wide as a football stadium. It was also situated on the other side of a ragged chasm, the result of a phenomenon that thousands of years ago had cut Founder's mountain almost in two. The upper part of the mountain loomed in the distance behind the asylum, the summit faded into the night sky. The dry path crunched beneath their feet as they approached the guardhouse at the end of the bridge that crossed the chasm. Benjamin could faintly hear the river down below and the rustling of the tree round him, but guardhouse itself was quiet.

"Why the hell are the lights out?" Cunninghorn growled when he saw how dark the little building was. He brought Benjamin with him as he stormed up to the guardhouse and stared through the window. It appeared to be empty. Cunninghorn looked at the boom barrier that block vehicle access to the bridge. "I gotta do everything myself, huh?" He returned to the car, shoved Benjamin into the backseat and locked him inside while he looked for a way to raise the barrier. Benjamin stared up at the car's ceiling, praying for a miracle to get him out of this horrible mess, until he heard the barrier rise. Instead of getting him out, Cunninghorn climbed into the front seat and got the car moving. For a while Benjamin saw nothing but stars through the windows as they crossed the bridge, then he saw spiraled barbed wire atop fences of metal bars. Cunninghorn got out the car, got Benjamin out as well, and dragged him up to the wide metal gate. Through the bars Benjamin saw a concrete courtyard bordered by overgrown hedges on both sides, and directly across, the main entrance. Cunninghorn glared at the intercom next to the gate, and waited. Then he drew his handgun, gripped it by the barrel, and started striking the bars with loud clangs. "Hey!" He shouted at the silent building. "Hello? I've got a new lab rat for the doc here! It's the pred that saw Woolton without his wolf disguise!"

Nothing. Not even a peep from the intercom. "Hey!" Cunninghorn shouted and whacked the bars again. "I stole a van, a car, and punched my boss to get this chomper! The least you could do is pick up the fucking phone!" He kicked the gate hard enough to rattle the barbed wire and he didn't get a response. He swore again. "Stupid thing must be broke for real. Come on, lardass. We're going round the back."

For a few seconds before the rhino dragged him back to the car, Benjamin spied another guardhouse on the other side, so close to the left wall that Cunninghorn didn't appear to have spotted it himself. From what little the cheetah could see, the lights in that guardhouse were also out… as was one of the windows, which lay in frosted pieces beneath the frame.

Benjamin was thrown into the back once more as Cunninghorn brought the car down the narrow tarmac road that ran around the building. Eventually the brick walls became chain link fences, and when the car stopped it was surrounded by them. Cunninghorn pulled Benjamin from the car and into a small square yard. One wire fence separated them from the edge of the chasm; the other side was so dark it was like staring at the edge of existence. Cunninghorn threatened to break his arms if he didn't remain beside the car while the rhino went to close a heavy looking gate that marked the transition from fence to brick. He couldn't reach the bolt from his side, so he left the gate without locking it. He grabbed Benjamin and strode to the door that was built into the side of the building and struck it with his fist. "Hey! Anyone home? I need to talk to Dr. Slothfeld!"

Benjamin stared up at the rhino and feared what the rhino would do if this Dr. Slothfeld ignored him any longer. Cunninghorn was definitely starting to get ticked. Benjamin could feel in the way his hoof tightened around his arm like a thumbscrew. At this point he wouldn't have dared to make a sound even if he wasn't gagged. Cunninghorn muttered violent things under his breath and tried to open the door. Turning out to be unlocked, it opened to reveal large, dimly lit storeroom.

"Sunavabitch!" Cunninghorn whirled round and took out his mounting frustration on the only thing in his reach- Benjamin's face. The cheetah hit the ground hard, tasted blood, and fought not to pass out as Cunninghorn stood over him, muttering under his breath.  
"Fuck, fuck, fuck! Okay, calm down, Frankie… you just picked the wrong door, that's all… gotta find the right one…" He hauled Benjamin to his feet and set off down the fenced passageway. They went round a corner and into another small yard which had two doors. One was built into the building, and the other was built in the fence separating them from the dark forest on this side of the chasm, and the mountain summit beyond that. Cunninghorn went to the building door, raised his hoof to touch the intercom beside it, and stopped.

Splattered over the intercom and brick was a faded dark brown substance, just like what was staining the stone sign back at the bridge. A breeze passed Benjamin's face, and his nose caught a whiff of old, rotted dried blood.

It was at that point that the desperate Cunninghorn could no longer deny that something was horribly wrong, and Benjamin could feel his own fear growing closer to fever-pitch. Without a word the rhino pulled out his gun and dragged Benjamin back down the passageway. When they were back at the car, Cunninghorn looked at the dashboard.

"Where the fuck is my key?" He snarled. He searched himself, just to make sure he hadn't brought it with him, then went into proceed-with-caution mode. He scanned the immediate area for threats, looked inside and around the car, and finally checked the storeroom he'd mistakenly knocked on. When he saw the storeroom was clear of threats, and anything that could be used to cut duct tape, he shoved Benjamin inside. "You keep quiet, fatcat." He shut the door behind him.

When Benjamin didn't hear the door lock, he debated with himself for a moment. Should he try to escape now, or go along with what his captor wanted? He remembered walking into that penthouse and finding Bogo half-dead on the floor with a slit throat. He felt a stirring of hatred, true hatred in his gut, and decided the time had come to get out of this awful duct tape.

Cunninghorn, the most extreme pred-hater Benjamin had ever met, had forgotten one very important thing; most of said preds had claws. With the rhino no longer around to catch him in the act, Benjamin got to work. It hurt like heck to twist his paws just enough to reach the tape around his wrists, but he managed. His shoulders ached as he brought his paws back to his front and remove the gag, allowing him to spit out the blood that had been collecting in his mouth since Cunninghorn had struck him. "You hit like a girl." He muttered after wiping his face. He looked around the storeroom; aside from crates and shelves, he saw a forklift, bottles of weed-killer, bug spray and other small products the asylum staff would need to keep the forest from creeping back in and reclaiming the grounds. Benjamin glanced at the door, but didn't hear any sign of Cunninghorn coming back, and walked to the shelves holding the sprays. Benjamin picked up a spray bottle of insect repellent. It wasn't rhino repellent, but it would do.

His plan was stupid, but simple. Wait by the door until Cunninghorn comes back, spray his eyes the second he shows his face, and run. Get back across the bridge, take off down the road, and hope that it was a straight shot back to the city.

Benjamin sprayed once to make sure it was full, and turned back toward the door.

Gunfire, sharp and rapid and coming from the door, froze him in place. In the midst of the spurting of bullets there was another sound that was either the car revving or a guttural roar of fury. More gunfire, then the sound died away with a sharp shriek of pain.

Benjamin stared at the door, paw tight around the spray bottle. "Cunninghorn?" He whispered.

He listened, but he heard nothing more. He tentatively stepped toward the door, holding the repellent in both paws like a real gun. His lip quivered as he contemplated leaving the storeroom. He put a paw on the wide flat handle and hesitated one more time. He debated with himself until he agreed that he couldn't stay here, or the mammals that resided in this terrible place would find him for sure. He pulled the door open a crack and peeked through. He saw nothing through the gap, and heard nothing but the sound of the river at the bottom of the chasm.

Benjamin stepped out and looked around the fenced yard. The understanding that he was alone brought him little relief, especially when he saw the shattered window on the car, and blood spattered on the ground among the little jagged balls of glass. The cheetah took four steps forward and jumped at a sudden crackle coming from behind the car. Then he heard whispering, muted and coming from the same direction. It didn't sound like Cunninghorn, but Benjamin had no intention of getting any closer and seeing who it was. He aimed the quivering bug repellent at the car and started toward the heavy gate, moving around the car and avoiding the glass and blood. For some reason he imagined Carlton Woolton behind the vehicle, blood spurting and bubbling from the ragged remains of his throat as Sedor pinned him down, muttering to himself as he watched the ram die.

Benjamin was almost to the gate when he saw the source of the whispering- a police radio lying on the ground beside something small and rectangular. "Oh, thank goodness." He said softly, relief flooding through him, and walked over to the device. On closer inspection the other object turned out to be Cunninghorn's empty gun. Ammo casings lay on the ground, more than a dozen of them. Benjamin pocketed the gun and picked up the noisy radio, which didn't seem to have a very good signal. From what little he could hear through the crackling, someone was calling to 'all units' about Nick Wilde and a police officer missing in action. Benjamin felt a jolt at Nick's name. "Hello? Hello, can you hear me?" The officer speaking didn't seem to hear him. "How the heck do you use this thing?" Benjamin started pressing buttons, when a crunching thud shook the ground behind him.

Benjamin spun round, crackling radio in paw, and stared at the wall of black that had sudden dropped down between him and the gate. He blinked, and the wall turned out to be a hulking beast in a black coat, black hat, and bone-colored plague doctor mask.

_Oh shit._

Sedor Valentino brought into view a massive cleaver coated in red and brown, the sight freezing Benjamin like a deer in headlights. Then the massive bear stiffened and made a startled snort behind the mask. Almost as if he was surprised to see him. Then the moment passed and the bear lunged at him.

Benjamin cried in terror, raised the repellent and started spraying. The irritating chemicals didn't reach Sedor's eyes, but covered the lenses enough to send the great grizzly reeling. Benjamin didn't wait for him to recover his sight. He spun and ran.

Halfway down the passage he heard thundering crunching footsteps rapidly gaining on him. He turned his head. He caught glimpse of Sedor charging at him on all fours. He ran faster. His lungs protested. He reached the wire door at the end of the passage and hit it with all the momentum he'd mustered. Thank God it opened! His momentum pivoted him all the way to the other side of the door and he slammed it shut right as Sedor reached him. The wire door pulsed inward from the blow, bashing the cheetah to the ground. Feeling bruised all over and tasting fresh blood in his mouth, Benjamin scrambled to his feet and ran to the heavy gate opposite the door. It was identical to the other gate, except it had hoop handles instead of a bolt. He pushed it open with a screech and glanced at Sedor. His heart skipped a beat when he saw that a trio of wolves in motorcycle helmets had joined him in tearing the wire from its frame. Benjamin leaped onto the dark grass clearing where the fence lights didn't shine, pushed the gate shut and pulled at the bolt. Compared to the other gate it was rusted and stiff from lack of use. There was a crash as Sedor and the wolves ripped the wire to the ground, giving the cheetah the adrenaline surge needed to yank the bolt into place. For good measure he pulled out the useless gun and pushed in into the rectangular hook handles beneath the bolt. Thick metal spikes lined both the top of the fence and the top of the brick wall bordering the asylum's grounds. _Please, please, God, please let it be enough._

He backed away, hyperventilating, as the wolves stepped over the remains of the fence and approached the gate. They tried to squeeze their arms through the bars to release the bolt and gun to no avail. Then Sedor pushed them aside and rammed the gate with the force of a truck. Benjamin shuddered with each blow. When the gate didn't give, the great masked bear roared in rage, an infernal scream that reduced the feline to tears, then stormed out of sight, leaving the wolves to struggle to reach the bolt. Benjamin was not relieved to see him give up. He would return. He always did. Why couldn't Benji have listened to Pottermass and stayed away from the back area?

Benjamin turned tail and staggered into the dark forest of Founder's Mountain. This was a dream. It had to be. Not even Honey could believe in this. But when was he going to wake up?


	18. Alyssa II

Doug Ramses lowered the police cap a little over his eyes as they searched the area. Alyssa's fingers lightly stroked her throat as she spied on him through the gap between the two slot machines and wondered what those cold, dead, rectangular eyes were searching for.

"He's after me. He must be." Jack growled besides her, hiding behind her snow-colored body. The vixen helped him out by lifting her thick bushy tail. The rabbit was on edge, furious with himself and tense with dread. Alyssa would be too if she suspected that her cover had been blown. "If only I'd discovered his involvement sooner. The report said he was Woolton's cousin. How could I not have realized?"

"He must have been the wolf that invaded Benji's safe house." Alyssa said. "Looks like Swinton found a replacement." Doug remained beside the entrance to the casino, fitting in perfectly with the rest of the law enforcement personnel guarding the collared victims. If she hadn't read the report and seen Doug's photo, Alyssa would have considered him beneath notice. "Quality's not as good as the original if that nose is any indication."

"Don't be fooled." Jack muttered beside her, even as he smiled at her attempt at humor. "He's one of the top assassins in the world."

Alyssa looked at him. "How dangerous are we talking?"

"Let me put it this way. The Clawhauser kid is lucky that Doug had no way of knowing the limo was armored. If he had, he would have used a more explosive method of penetrating the vehicle, and that cheetah wouldn't still be breathing."

Alyssa raised an eyebrow. "Explosive?"

"Four years ago, a senator's private jet was blown up in mid-air by an FIM-92 Stinger. That kind of explosive."

Alyssa swallowed. "Oh bollocks."

Doug saluted his 'superior,' said some words, and strolled out the casino. Alyssa exhaled and felt the tension leave her body. Jack, however, remained as stiff as a tuxedoed mannequin. "I have to go. If he sees me, my cover will be blown for sure."

Alyssa checked to make sure her concealed gun was still on her hip. "You two have history together?"

"Yep, and he's not the type to let business go unfinished."

"Whatever you did must have really pissed him off."

"I foiled an assassination attempt on a key witness and ruined his perfect record. That goes a bit beyond just ticking him off."

"An egomaniacal butcher with the texture of cotton candy. You really know how to pick your enemies, don't you?"

"Very funny. If he's after me, he'll be heading for my room. I have to go after him before he discovers my intel."

"You keep it all in your room?" Alyssa asked.

"I also have a PDA for when I'm in the field." Jack added. "But I can't let him know what we know about Slothfeld." Jack started to move, but Alyssa stopped him.

"Hang on a minute. The ZBI will never let you leave this room."

Jack clenched his jaw for a moment. "You're right. I'll need a distraction." He paused when he spotted something. "Speak of the devil. I think Bisoniing's about to kick off again."

Indeed, the smartly dressed CEO of Zootopia's top supermarket chain was striding up to the officers blocking the exit. Two of the ZBI officers intercepted him, and before they knew it the bison was rowing with them. His collar was beeping, and soon the stress of watching the row was causing the collar of the other victims to beep as well. More officers moved away from the exit in an effort to keep the situation from escalating. That was the window Alyssa and Jack were waiting for.

Jack started to move out from between the slot machines, and Alyssa was about to follow when Jack shot out a paw and stopped her in her tracks. "We can't both sneak past them. You stay here."

He was gone before the vixen could refuse. Alyssa blinked, momentarily stunned at the speed of his departure, and then the window of opportunity was gone. The ZBI officers had persuaded Bisoniing to return to his seat and called several officers back to the exit, and there was no sign of Jack.

Fuming, Alyssa tapped the little headset in her ear. "Honey, what's the word on Captain Bogo?"

_"According to the police scanner, he's back at Precinct One."_

"And the disk?"

_"No sign. But I think I may know where it is. When he was discharged from the hospital, he took with him a box full of the clothes and items on his person when he was admitted. I'd bet my bottom dollar that the disk is in there somewhere."_

"So it's at his home?"

_"The station, actually."_

"Bollocks."

_"Cool it, Snowflake, I've got a plan. You just worry about that sheep."_

Alyssa stepped out from between the machines, brushing dust from her clothes. "Jack's already on it."

_"I've been meaning to talk to you about that."_ Honey's tone turned edgy. _"Is he still there?"_

"He snuck out and went after Doug." Merely saying that annoyed the hell out of the vixen.

_"And left you hanging, huh?"_

"So?"

_"What makes you so sure he's not gonna screw you over once you get that disk back?"_

Alyssa gripped the side of one of the machines. "Because he's not doing this for the glory."

_"We're talking about a token bunny here, Alyssa. He's used to going solo."_

"So am I. That doesn't mean I'm a backstabber."

_"But you are a fox. What do you think goes through his head when he talks spy business with you? How about 'how can I beat this tricky little viper at her own game?' Or maybe 'I wonder if she's already found a buyer for the Data Disk yet? I should drag her back to HQ and waterboard the answers out of her.'"_

Alyssa bared her teeth. "Shut it, Honey! Shut! It!"

A cry drowned out Honey's response. "Savage! She's going savage!" Alyssa didn't realize the voice was directed at her until she saw an antelope wildly pointing in her direction, drawing the attention of at least a dozen other mammals. The vixen cursed and stepped away, lowering her finger so the headset wouldn't be noticed. The antelope, a resident of one of the executive suites judging from her designer pantsuit, kept pointing and loudly accusing with wide eyes.

"Shut your gob, will you? Do I look like I'm going savage?" Alyssa snapped. In hindsight, that may not have been the best reaction.

"Wha-" The antelope stared in shock, and then her face contorted. "How dare you! Don't you know who I am, you little slut?!"

Alyssa briefly mimicked the nuisance's pointy finger. "Karen?"

The antelope spluttered, her brain visibly short-circuiting as she struggled to understand if she was being insulted. Then two other mammals that had been drawn by her shouting stood up and approached, their aura just as hostile.

"Who are you? What is a fox doing here?" The porcupine demanded.

"Isn't it obvious? She's here to make some quick cash by giving that jackrabbit a good time." The other porcupine sneered.

Alyssa considered pulling out her gun, but this wasn't an alleyway in Virginia and these weren't perverted thugs. "Okay, you got me. Thanks to those terrorists I just got screwed out of an entire night's pay, so piss off before I really do go savage."

"Not so fast, missy!" The 'Karen' snapped, eyes narrowing with suspicion. "You're one of them, too, aren't you? You're here to keep an eye on us hostages!"

"Oh, good grief." Alyssa muttered irritably, even as she felt a growing unease at where this was going. "I got darted too, you idiot."

"All the better to fool us! But you're not fooling anyone!" 'Karen's' voice was rising and her collar beeped, summoning one of the ZBI officers.

"What is going on here?" The black bull said in a warning tone.

'Karen' was on him in an instant. "This shifty little bitch is one of them! I'm sure of it!"

The bull ignored the rest of her rant and glared down at Alyssa, who backed away and did her best to look innocent. "You're obviously not a guest."

"Actually I'm a guest of one of the guests." Alyssa said.

The bull's grimace deepened. "In any case I'll need to ask you a few questions."

Alyssa gaped. "But-"

Karen cut her off. "Shut up, you! Officer, I recommend that you skip the questions and just arrest her! That's the least you could do to make up for your incompetence!"

The bull slowly turned to give her the stink eye. "Please calm down, ma'am, and let me handle this."

"If you could handle this, you would have caught those bastards by now! I wouldn't trust you to handle your penis!"

Jesus Christ, Alyssa thought, her jaw lowering even further at the antelope's absurdity. She had heard that Karens were the epitome of entitled harpies, but it was still a shock to meet one in the wild.

In any case, the bull now looked like he wanted to shove a tazer up her anus. "Sit down, ma'am."

'Karen' didn't listen to him. "Look at her! She's even wearing boots! What kind of freak wears shoes in Sahara Square?"

"Gazelle wears stilettos." Alyssa dearly wanted to say, but as she watched the scene escalate she noticed that other mammals were starting to kick off, their tempers already pushed to breaking point by their glorified incarceration. Before they knew it another argument was kicking off beside the bar, and Bisoniing was loudly complaining that he was needed at City Hall. The ZPD officers were once again forced to leave their post at the casino exit to deescalate the problem. Alyssa seized her chance when the porcupines turned their full attention to the argument between the raging 'Karen' and the seething bull. A line of slot machines brighter than neon lights stretched all the way to the exit, and the gap between them and the wall was the perfect cover. It was a tight squeeze, and dust was smeared all over her clothes when she reached the exit, but Alyssa had travelled through far worse conditions. There were only two officers left guarding the exit, and with their eyes on the bickering hostages sneaking past them was a peace of cake.

Once in the lobby Alyssa sprinted and slid under the nearest couch before anyone could spot her. There were two officers by the doors, and a dozen more outside holding off the horde of journalists straining to get a glimpse of the collared hostages. One officer was watching the elevators, and another was watching the door to the stairs. Alyssa contemplated waiting under the couch until the coast was clear until she spotted the smoke alarms, almost perfectly camouflaged in the ceiling.

Ever since Jack had used a lighter to identify a tuft of faux fur, Alyssa had taken to carrying her own little metal lighter with the red rose pattern, which she'd kept even though she had quit smoking since joining ZI6. The housekeepers hadn't had a chance to clean under the couch before the raid started, so there was no shortage of things to burn. Alyssa collected a couple of receipts, dead leaves from the assorted plants around the lobby, and a piece of curved broken glass that may have been a wine glass. She gathered her fuel in the bowl-like fragment, set it aflame, and with a flick of her wrist sent it sliding out like a hockey puck.

The make-shift bowl of burning waste came to a stop in a corner of the room, hidden from sight by a large potted plant. Alyssa turned her eyes to the officer guarding the stairs. Wait for it…

Just when she thought it was all for naught, the shrill shrieking of smoke alarms cut through the air. The officers in the lobby sprang into action, racing to the casino to check on the hostages. Alyssa sprang into action herself, pulling herself out from beneath the couch and racing into through the door to the stairs.

She was two floors up when she heard footsteps coming from higher up. Shit! She'd forgotten about the numerous officers searching all the rooms! She opened the nearest door and checked the hallway of the current floor. Clear. She stepped out and closed the door behind her.

By now Alyssa was beginning to think she hadn't thought this all the way through. She had no idea where the elevators were, and there was no telling how many officers were in Jack's suite. Maybe she should call it quits and find a way out of the hotel.

Alyssa heard the click of a door handle turning and saw one of the room doors begin to open. She held her breath and took cover in the nearest hiding spot- the linen room.

She hid behind a pile of white sheets on one of the bottom shelves. She saw the door open, but did not see the mammal who opened it. She made herself as still and small as a stone, and waited. The door closed as whoever was supposedly peeking inside decided to continue on their way. Alyssa exhaled and stepped out from the shelving unit.

_"Alyssa, what the hell is happening? Did you trigger that fire alarm?"_ Jack's voice hissed at her through the headset.

Alyssa wished she could reach through the headset and wallop him. "Yes! Yes, I did, you cotton-tailed arsehole! You left me there with those bastards! I almost got nicked as a suspected terrorist!"

_"You were almost what?"_

"Nicked! Arrested! I don't care what the states call it! Now I'm probably going to get my face plastered on every telly in the city because you prefer being the lone ranger!" There was a sound that could have been Jack sighing.

_"We'll discuss this when there're no cops crawling about. Where are you now?"_

"A laundry room on floor-"

Alyssa saw a thin black flash right in front of her face, then felt something close tight around her neck. Her stomach lurched as she grabbed at the cable to free herself, and then Doug Ramses dropped down from the top shelf, the other end of the cable in hoof. He pulled before she could loosen the cable, and then she felt herself lift. The cable squeezed like a curled branding iron in the split second she was airborne, before she felt the tip of her flat boots touch the floor.

"Alone at last." Doug scrutinized the suffering vixen, making sure the cable was just the right height, before tying it to the nearest shelf. Alyssa choked and gagged and tugged at the noose, but there was no getting it off without slackening the cable. The vixen reached for her gun, only for her pounding heart to skip a beat when Doug held it up beside his face. "Don't bother using the knives. The cable's metal. You'd be better off trying your claws."

Alyssa staggered on her tip-toes, contemplating throwing a knife into Doug's chest, but the ram was likely expecting that. "Why are you doing this?" She could only get enough air to muster a whisper, so calling for help was out of the question. Shit, what had she gotten herself into now?

"I thought you'd have figured that out when you saw me in this stupid uniform." Doug shoved a door-stopper under the door. "At least the wolf costume was fun to wear. Kind of like trick or treating with bullets." With the linen room secure, Doug turned to Alyssa and leaned against the shelving unit. "That was British slang I was hearing just now. Who are you working for? ZI6? ZI5? Liberum?"

"Idunnowatyurtakinabut." Alyssa gagged. She momentarily reached up to grab the taught cable above her head, then feel the expertly tied knot at the base of her skull. There was no cutting or untying that.

"I'm sorry, you're going to have to speak slower than that. I imagine it must be hard with that noose on, but the least you can do is make an effort." Doug sat down on one of the shelves, right next to the other end of the cable. "Since we're playing cops and robbers, why don't we have a little interrogation? Just you and me? I ask you questions, you answer them as best as you can. If you don't answer, or you give an obvious lie, I pull on this here cable, like this." He pulled, just like that. Alyssa endured the torturous sensation of having her airway and blood flow completely cut off for what felt an eternity before she felt the ground again.

"Wanker." She growled when she could breathe again, hoping that the insult hid just how scared she really was. Doug ignored her.

"Next time will take longer. Now. Who are you working for?" Doug shook his head suddenly. "No, never mind that. You're British. That's all I need to know. Next question. Why are you here?"

Alyssa swayed on the spot. A headache was starting to form. "Investigating Swinton's new collars." She said. No matter what, she couldn't bring up Slothfeld.

Doug twanged the taught cable beside him. "Why?"

"Matter of… National Security." Alyssa stammered.

"Isn't that always the case?" Doug stroked the cable. Alyssa stared, waiting for the torture. Doug lowered his hoof. "What do you know about the good Doctor Slothfeld?"

"W-who?" Alyssa whispered. Right away she knew the lie wasn't enough. Doug narrowed his eyes.

"Species is in the name. Run-of-the-mill mad doctor. Experimented on the Red Queen and her knight for years."

"No idea what you mean." Alyssa insisted.

Doug very slightly shook his head. "Wrong answer."

He pulled the cable downward by an inch. What little breath Alyssa could muster came out wheezing. Doug watched her fruitless struggle to pry away the noose with angry eyes. "What do you know about Doctor Slothfeld?"

Alyssa's vision started to turn red. "P-please…"

"One more time. What do you know about Doctor Slothfeld?"

Alyssa couldn't answer. The noose was too tight. Her sight was almost completely clouded over when she felt the noose loosen just a bit, then Doug's hoof grab the front of her long red shirt to hold her upright until she was strong enough to stand on her own. Then he released and sat back down on the shelf. "Are you going to start telling the truth, now?"

Alyssa wished she'd stuck a knife in him when she'd had the chance. "I don't know anything important… just that he'd been having problems at his facility."

Doug nodded approvingly. "That's more like it. What problems?"

"Escaped test subjects… they've been causing trouble in the city… they killed Lemming… killed Woolton…" Alyssa blinked when Doug's cold expression suddenly smoldered. "That's it, isn't it? You're after Woolton's killer."

Doug drummed his fingers on the taught cable. "You knew we were related, didn't you? I didn't expect you to have done your homework."

"This isn't about money or kicks this time." Alyssa spoke as she struggled to take the pressure off her trachea and the arteries in her neck. "You've got a score to settle."

Doug smirked. "We've both got scores to settle."

Alyssa stared at him. "Wh-what?"

The ram tilted his head. "Slothfeld captured your mentor and subjected to her to sadistic experiments for two years. You have every reason to shoot him."

Alyssa shook her head to the best of her ability. "No… Cheryl wouldn't want me to do that."

Doug smirked. "Oh my dear naïve little vulpes vulpes. If you knew half the things he'd done to her…"

_"Said the flame-eyed Jabberwock as it came whiffling through the tulgey wood."_

Alyssa froze, one foot on the floor, when she heard that voice coming through her headset. Cheryl

"Radames?" Doug barked and tapped his ear, looking as shocked as his captive; there was very likely a headset hidden by his hat and wool. "How did you get on this channel?"

_"How I got on this channel is the least of your concerns."_ Cheryl spoke superciliously.

Doug shot up from the shelf, his professional persona now non-existent. "Where are you, you stripey bitch? Where is Valentino?"

_"I thought you were sent to find that wayward pair Ben and Nicky. I'm surprised at you. Their whereabouts should have been the first question you asked her."_

"I've got your protégée right here, Radames!" Doug grabbed the cable. Alyssa gasped in fear and tried to pull herself up. "Tell me where Valentino and the others are right now, or she dies!"

_"I'd need a better reason to respond than what's currently at stake."_

Alyssa gasped softly, stunned at what she'd just heard.

"Is that so?" Doug pulled the cable, lifting the vixen clear off the floor. Stars danced in front of her eyes and her pulse thudded in her ears as she struggled frantically. "Hear that? That's the sound of your protégé dying! I can't think of a better reason than that!"

_"She is not going to die."_

"Really?" Doug snorted. "What makes you so sure?"

_"The white knight heard the cry of his twin. He is coming for her."_

The crash of the door being kicked open was barely audible over the pounding in Alyssa's ears. Her feet touched the floor once more as Doug let go of the cable and spun round with her stolen gun raised. Jack Savage kicked the weapon from his hoof before it could fire.

"Savage!" Doug roared, shocked and enraged at the sight of his hated enemy.

Jack dropped into a combat stance. "If you can spare the time, I'd like to hear how you survived your fall from grace."

"You nearly broke my neck!" Doug launched himself at the rabbit, and battle was joined.

Alyssa watched, ecstatic and terrified, as Jack threw his full weight into Doug's chest and send them both crashing into another shelf. Linen fell and scattered all over the place like misshapen lumps of raw dough as they doubled their attempts to kill each other with punches, elbows and failed headlocks. "Jack!" Alyssa called as loudly as she could. Jack glanced at her for an instant before dodging a lunge from the baton Doug pulled from his police belt, and first chance he got he kicked her gun in her direction. Alyssa caught it between her feet and grabbed the cable above her head, taking her weight until she could raise the gun into her waiting paw. She pointed the weapon straight up and fired until the cable suddenly dropped her.

She coughed and gasped as she pulled the noose over her head and threw it away. Jack was dodging every one of Doug's attacks, so fierce he couldn't get a chance to pull his gun out. Alyssa aimed her own gun and fired, only to hear the click of an empty chamber. She cursed, ran forward and threw a punch that Doug redirected with his free hoof. Alyssa kicked at the knife in his hoof, sending it skidding across the floor. Doug retaliated by striking her across the face. Jack pulled out his gun and fired. The bullets missed and took chunks out of the wall. Doug grabbed Jack's wrist and twisted, making him drop the gun, and pulled him into a headlock. Alyssa punched him in the face until he let go and kicked her into a shelf. The ram wiped blood from his brow and ran for the exit.

"He's running? Already?" Jack spoke the words as a question instead of a statement.

Alyssa was too winded to pursue right away. "I assume that's not his style."

Jack rubbed his ribs. He frowned and shoved a paw inside his jacket. "Oh hell, no."

"What now?" Alyssa pushed herself off the pile of linen and started toward the broken doorway.

"The PDA. He took my PDA!" Jack shouted.

"Oh bloody hell!" Alyssa groaned. "We can still get Slothfeld if we hurry!"

"You don't understand!" Jack sprinted past her, and she followed him out. She stopped the rabbit inside the hallway and sniffed the air. She caught a whiff of ram blood and pointed to the stairs she'd used before. Jack gave himself a fierce verbal arse-chewing as they descended. "God darn it, I've just put them all in danger!"

"Who's in danger?"

"Honey Ryder and your other friends! I investigated the lot of you back when the mission started! The location of their bunker is in that PDA!"

"What?!" Alyssa nearly shrieked.

They spotted Doug in the lobby making a break for the front entrance at the same time the real cops were escorting the collared guests from the casino and to the comfort and privacy of their own rooms. Two ZBI officers were preventing a fuming Bisoniing from going to a waiting group of black-suited mega fauna. Doug stopped in the middle of the room and looked left to right, looking for a more discreet way out. Alyssa and Jack slowed down and advanced on him, ignoring the ranting and raving of Bisoniing and the nearby 'Karen' who by that point was in cuffs.

"Listen, Jabberwock!" Cheryl called through the headsets Alyssa, Jack and Doug were wearing. "Can you hear the Jubjub bird and the Bandersnatch calling for blood?"

"What are you talking about?" Alyssa yelled, but she could barely hear herself over Bisonniing's roaring.

"THIS IS GETTING BEYOND A FUCKING JOKE!" Bisoniing bellowed, his elbows bent and hoofs clenched as though he was about to start swinging. "ONE WORD FROM ME AND YOU'LL NEVER WORK IN THE BUREAU AGAIN! NOW GET OUT OF MY WAY BEFORE I CALL MY LAWYER!"

"Sir, your collar." The ZBI bull from before said in warning.

"FUCK THE COLLAR!" Bisoniing hollered, even as his yellow collar beeped red. If it beeped again, he would be shocked. Alyssa and Jack continued on toward Doug, not wanting any part of that shitstorm. "I WILL BE BE TREATED LIKE SOME SHARP-TOOTHED SAVAGE! I WILL NOT HAVE IT!"

"Sir!" The bull snapped.

Too late. The collar beeped again, and Bisoniing shouted in pain. "Bastard!"

"Sir?" The bull asked.

"The stupid collar pricked me!" Bisoniing tugged at his collar. The large glowing light, once a bright angry red, was now a vivid blue.

Alyssa stopped, as did Jack. Even Doug remained rooted to the spot, watching as Bisoniing groaned and started to convulse. The officers and hotel guests stopped moving and watched. Even 'Karen' fell silent. Outside the doors and windows, the crowd of reporters saw what was happening and aimed their cameras through the glass.

Cheryl spoke frigidly into Alyssa, Jack and Doug's ears. _"See how his collar changes to the color of night?"_

Alyssa held a paw over her mouth as the bison collapsed to the floor in his convulsions. The ZBI officers and the black-suited mammals rushed over to him.

"Stay back!" Jack shouted, but they paid no heed.

A growl filled the air, guttural and feral. Then the officers went flying. Mr. Bisoniing got up on all fours, fresh blood staining one of his horns, and turned his wild eyes to the nearest mammals.

Cheryl's tiny voice echoed in Alyssa's stunned perception. _"The time has come for the people to wake up from the wonderland the Swintons created."_

"Oh my God, he's gone mad!" A rhino cried, his collar beeping red. He tried to run, only to collide with the smaller mammals behind him.

"Mad?! He's gone savage!" A pig shrieked as Bisoniing roared again and prepared to charge.

"Savage?! Prey mammals don't go savage!" 'Karen' screeched. Then she cried out as her collar also beeped and turned blue.

Bisoniing rammed into the crowd before the ZPD officers could fire their darts guns. Alyssa grabbed Jack and ran for it, barely avoiding a glancing blow from the bison's bloodied horn. Screaming. Beeping. Bleeding. Tranq darts flying. Blue lights everywhere. Alyssa too let instinct take over, grabbing a dart gun from a fallen sheep officer to fight back the madness. The last thing she knew before losing herself in the chaos of Palm Hotel was the Red Queen's voice in her headset.

_"Life… what is it, but a dream?"_


	19. Bogo II

Chief Trunchbull burst into the office, making Bogo drop the bootlegged Gazelle CD he'd just discovered in his trench coat pocket.

"Sir!" Bogo snapped to attention and pulled his sleeve further over the wrist the collar was locked around, alarmed by the look on the elephant's face.

"Captain Mansa Idris Bogo!" Trunchbull rumbled. "What is this I'm hearing? The city is in a state of emergency and you're leaving for a secret assignment from the Commissioner? _Alone?_"

"Not alone, sir!" McHorn called from outside.

"You stay out of this!" Trunchbull shut the door behind him and rounded back on Bogo. "And you explain yourself!"

"Did Commissioner Elba not discuss the matter with you?" Bogo asked, completely unperturbed.

"He explained it perfectly." Trunchbull said. "Including the part where there is nothing I can do to stop you."

"Then why are you here, sir?"

"Because his authority cannot stop me from trying to talk you out of this. I know you talked Elba into this and not the other way around. I'm not even allowed to tell anyone in City Hall what you're doing."

"I convinced him that we need to go the extra mile if we're going to figure out what the hell is going on in this city." Bogo insisted. "Mayor Swinton refused to respond any of my questions when I went to see her, but if I can find some concrete evidence, I can put pressure on her to give some answers, and maybe even find out who's responsible for this."

Trunchbull sighed loudly and pressed a flat hoof to his temple. "You think the mayor is involved in this?"

Bogo dropped the CD back in the box and ultimately the trench coat. He needed something easier to move around in. "She has spent months boasting about this mysterious collar that's supposed to the key to securing her reelection. That can't possibly be a coincidence. Maybe the mammal responsible for creating the new collar double-crossed her."

Trunchbull wiped his brow with his trunk. "You can't possibly be…"

Bogo shook his head. "I am not accusing her of anything. Not until I find the truth."

"Yes, this Doctor Slothfeld." Trunchbull added. Bogo nodded. The elephant nudged the box full of the buffalo's things away from the edge of the desk so he could lean on it. "For heaven's sake, listen to reason, Bogo. There is no reason to believe that he is behind this mess. As far as the world is concerned he's been dead for years."

Bogo crossed his arms. He knew that. He knew that after all that happened, all he'd learned, he still knew so little of what was happening in Zootopia, and he didn't need reminding. "I'm still going, sir."

Trunchbull violently shoved himself off the desk, shocking Bogo. The warning beep from his wrist was lost to the sound of the box sliding off and scattering its contents all over the floor. "Mansa, for God's sake! Why now of all times are you being so selfish?"

Bogo bristled. "Excuse me?"

"You pretend to put this city first above all else, but really you're just trying to fill some ridiculous need to make up for your 'past mistakes'."

Bogo grabbed his other jacket and pulled it on. "This is not the time, sir. Anyway, I was told the ZBI is handling the situation."

"'Anyway?!' What do you mean 'anyway?!'" Trunchbull almost bent double as he loomed over the buffalo. Bogo kept his eyes on the firearm he was currently assembling. "If the ZBI is handling the situation, why not let them handle this one? Tell them your wild theories about a dead sloth masterminding these attacks? Have them go on this secret mission in your stead?"

Bogo slammed the magazine into his weapon, holstered it, and turned to his superior. "What do you want me to do, Chief Trunchbull?"

"_I want you to put the city first!_" Trunchbull thundered. "I offer to make you one of the most powerful mammals in Zootopia and you treat it like I'm asking you to join the Tundratown Mafia! Officer Hopps is missing for crying out loud! What do I have to do, have you replace Swinton instead? I know, I'll get myself almost killed by your rookie! Put myself on a serial killer's hit list! Maybe even get abducted by a rogue rhino! That would certainly do the trick! Oh, wait, it won't do the trick because I'm not Benjamin Clawhauser!"

Before the stunned buffalo could work up a response to the elephant's rant, the door opened, and in walked Commissioner Elba with a face like thunder. His brows rose when he saw Trunchbull. "Captain? What are you still doing here? Your lieutenant and sergeant are waiting!"

Bogo zipped up his jacket, refusing to look at Trunchbull. "I'm ready, Commissioner. Any word of Officer Hopps' whereabouts?"

"No, but we've started an investigation into the circumstances surrounding that incident. I've told your dispatcher to contact you as soon as we get any news." Elba said gently. "I've also forbidden TUSK from taking part in the search. They won't be allowed anywhere near her or Wilde." Elba then turned his livid eyes to the elephant. "Do you object to this as well, Trunchbull?"  
Trunchbull grumbled. "No, Commissioner. I don't."

"Good. If Bellwether's party learns of this, it would be a national scandal. So not a word to anyone." Elba tapped his cane loudly. "And I thought I told you not to try and stop him."

Trunchbull squared his shoulders. "With the utmost respect, Commissioner Elba, I think whatever you're doing is a big mistake."

Elba twisted the cane like he was trying to drill it into the floor. "I suggest you leave this office, Trunchbull. There is an incident at the Palm Hotel that requires your attention."

The elephant rumbled again. "Oh, now what?"

When Elba was done explaining, all trace of emotion in Trunchbull's leathery features was gone, all but how wide his blank eyes had become. The massive elephant stood there, staring at the wall between Elba and Bogo for some time after the former buffalo finished speaking, and then slowly sat down. As for Bogo, he turned round and propped himself on the low shelving unit holding most of his paperwork, staring at his reflection in the picture frame holding the first medal he'd ever earned. The collar on his wrist weighed no more than a Calvin Swine watch, but he may as well have been wearing a block of C4.

Happy thoughts, he needed to think happy thoughts. If his collar beeped now, he would be suspended for sure. But Christ, all those people…

"I trust that you have no more objection to my borrowing your best men." Elba said quietly. Trunchbull didn't even shake his head. "Good. Captain, your men should be ready and waiting by now. I suggest you be on your way."

When Bogo was downstairs picking out the quietest, most inconspicuous unmarked car he could find, he was starting to think this wasn't such a good idea. He was a liability now, a ticking time bomb with his own brain for a fuse. How emotional would he need to be for the dreaded blue light to trigger? What if- "Mansa?" McHorn spoke up just as Bogo was checking the volume of the engine in a small black Buck Lupine. The rhino was leaning against the side of the car, looking through the open door, while Higgins was up front examining a map on the hood. "You feeling okay?" McHorn asked. "You've been quiet ever since you had that fight with the Chief. He didn't suspend you, did he?"

Bogo turned the key and let the engine fall silent. "Mac, you know when we're in a shootout, or a hostage situation, do you think you'd get worked up enough to…" He bit the side of his lip and turned the engine back on. "Never mind. I think this car will do. Put the surveillance equipment in the back, will you?"

McHorn frowned at Bogo before going to retrieve the cases. Bogo tapped the windshield and motioned for Higgins to join him in the front. Once the hippo was in the passenger seat, he spread the map over the dashboard. The car shook as McHorn entered the back and poked his head between the front seats. Once his two comrades were present, Bogo pointed at a spot on the map with a phone stylus. "Once we pass the Overlook, the first building on the mountain is this sawmill that was abandoned a while back. We'll scope the place out, see if anyone has been there recently. If the mill turns up squat, there's this lodge higher up."

"Then the asylum." McHorn reached between his fellow officers and poked at the colored gash that represented the crevice that thousands of years ago nearly cleaved the mountain in two. "That's abandoned, too. Pretty much every property on that mountain was deserted after the… wait a sec, where's Swinetown?"

"Whattown?" Higgins asked.

McHorn snorted irritably as he pored over the other side of the map, which showed nothing but wild forest. Bogo, on the other hand, was wondering where he'd heard that name before.

"On the other side of Founder's Mountain is this old ghost town called Swinetown. It was built up centuries ago when coal was discovered in the mountain, way before Zootopia was founded. My grandpa was a foreman there. I've still got his helmet back at home. It should be somewhere on the other side of the mountain, but it's not."

Now Bogo remembered; it had been part of the eulogy he'd listened to at the funeral. "This map is brand new. We can see if we can find an older one in the records."

"Nah." McHorn said. "That place died when the mine dried up and everyone moved to Zootopia. The road will be so overgrown we'd need a chopper to get there. There's no way Cunninghorn would take the kid that far, anyway."

Bogo conceded his point and started the engine. It was time to go.

As he drove through the streets of Zootopia, he was struck by how quiet it was. Throughout the entirely of the drive he passed only four cars. Bogo couldn't help but glance side to side for signs of his lost rabbit officer. He thought he saw a gangly weasel duck into a side alley at one point with a television, but no Hopps. An orange glow around one corner turned out to be a burning car, surrounded by the fallen weapons and bloodied bodies of assorted predators. Mr. Big's men most likely. Bogo called it in, then moved on while muttering curses under his breath. He would find the one responsible for all of this, be it Slothfeld, Swinton or a different mammal entirely, and they would pay.

They reached Zootopia Overlook and saw the city as a whole. The Mountain of Light, the name given to the shape formed by the sparkling skyscrapers of City Central, was still as bright as ever. The beautiful sight, however, was marred by the faint wisps of smoke coming from the burning buildings that had been used as distractions for the main attack. Not for the first time since their mission began, Bogo wondered if he was doing the right thing. The city needed them. Hopps needed them.

But Benjamin needed them, too. He was somewhere on this mountain, trapped and scared and at the mercy of that bastard rhino. Thinking of that made it easier for Bogo to turn away.

Turning his back on the city skyline, Bogo spied the public restroom nearby. The open doorway was dark and empty. The last time he'd been to the Overlook felt like a lifetime ago, and he couldn't even remember why he'd come up here in the first place. He did remember the helmeted figure he'd seen standing in that very doorway, holding something metal in their paw. He'd gotten back into his car just as they'd appeared and left thinking very little of it. Now the memory of that brief encounter sent a chill through his veins and made the half-healed wound on his neck tingle.

Bogo looked away from the restroom and turned the car to the path that would take them into the forest. Headlights would have to be turned off from this point on, so he would need to drive carefully. They should reach the sawmill in about twenty minutes, and with a little luck, they wouldn't have to go as far as the asylum.

_But with _my _luck…_ Bogo touched the older wound down in his left side, the gnarled crater where an elephant in Musth had impaled him. Five years ago a moment's hesitation had allowed the mad mammal to turn on the officers, and all that followed. This time hesitation was the least of his worries. The collar pressed against the joint beneath his hoof as he switched off the headlights. He did not want to end up like Bisoniing. He wouldn't call himself overly emotional, and neither would anyone else. He glanced at McHorn and Higgins, geared up and ready for action. Would they take care of Bogo if the worst happened, or would they hesitate just as he had done?

No, Bogo thought, thinking of the dart gun in one holster and the S&W in the other. If it came to that, he would take care of himself.

"Keep your eyes and ears open." Bogo warned them as he drove the car onward and upward, about to enter the marketplace, about to either face the elephant, or become him…


	20. Nick III

_"Among those turned savage in this horrific turn of events is believed to be Peter Bisoniing, though his psychical condition is reported to be stable. So far the number of casualties is not yet known, but judging from this footage the damages caused to the hotel is worth hundreds of thousands at least…"_

Nick watched the shaky footage of what had become of the Palm Hotel's famous lobby with the feeling of having been recently rammed in the chest by a savage bison. When he'd initially learned of what the unknown terrorist group had done to those prey mammals, sparing their lives just to give them a taste of their own medicine, he'd felt very irrationally satisfied. The collars were horseshit, and so was the society that made them exist. As cruel as the notion was, those bastards had had it coming. That was until the fox came across the army of televisions filling a shop window all displaying the same breaking news; contrary to what both the authorities and the civilian population had believed, the new collars did far worse than give the wearer a nasty shock.

Nick watched the report until Peter Moosebridge moved on to something else, but he heard nothing to indicate what had happened to Alyssa or her rabbit ally from the ZIA. He continued on down the street, stopping again beside a lamppost.

Speaking of rabbits, Nick suddenly heard one thumping her foot right in front of him with the pattering sound of a woodpecker. He sighed and looked down to see her glowering up at him. She looked as cold and disheveled as he felt, as expected from someone who had been literally catapulted into a river.

"I swear to Gods, Wilde." She threatened. "If you stall again I will stick a dart in you and drag you back to the station by the tail."

Nick put on his best smirk. "If you were going to stick a dart in me, you'd have done it by now, Carrots. Besides…" He held up his paw just enough to avoid lifting the bunny by the other end of the cuffs she'd latched between them. "You already have a liable, less painful means of dragging."

"Stop calling me Carrots!" Judy snapped and jabbed his chest. "I'm getting tired of you running your mouth off, Wilde. Is this seriously the thanks I get for saving your life?"

"In case you forgot, I returned the favor!" Nick retorted.

"And then you nearly drowned us both!"

"For the last time, I had no idea this thing was a grappling hook!" Nick thrust out the arm the Mag-Ryder was still fixed to.

"Where did you even get that thing?"

"That's for me to know and you to find out."

Judy pursed her lips. "Yeah, just like Wild Times. That was for you to know and me to find out and I carrot-picking did, didn't I?"

Nick had no answer to that other than a deep, exasperated sigh. "… I wasn't stalling. I was looking for a payphone, same as you."

Judy pointed up ahead. "That payphone?"

Nick turned and saw the booth further down the empty street. "Yeah, that payphone. Your own phone's definitely bust, huh?"

Judy twirled the ruined phone in her paw. "Yep."

"Radio, too?"

"That's what happens when it gets dunked in a freezing river."

"Give it a rest will, ya, rabbit? I said it was an accident!" Nick led the way to the booth and opened the door. "Ladies, first?"

Judy stepped inside, pulled Nick's arm into the booth with her. Nick sighed deeply, his shoulder pressed against the frosted metal doorframe, hating his situation.

_She's still taking me into custody, after her own people tried to kill us both! She probably thinks it was all a simple misunderstanding, and here I am, paying the price for saving her life again! And why did I? Good question!_

Nick felt a tug, heard the rabbit tell him to get in here, and reluctantly joined her inside the booth.

He saw the problem soon enough: the lowest payphone in the booth had been vandalized to the point of having the cable half-yanked out the receiver. The next phone up was impossible to reach. "Perfect." Judy muttered.

Nick tilted himself sideways, bringing his smirk into the bunny's view. "Yes, it is."

Judy jabbed up at the phone. "Give me a hand, will you?"

"Wait, what? Can't you hop, skip and jump or something?"

"There's nothing to hold onto. If you give me a boost, I can-"

"Woah, woah, woah. How do I know you won't shoot me for 'cuppin' a feel?'"

He expected Judy would get worked up at that. She didn't. "I can't blame you for not trusting me. I wouldn't trust me either. If you go back on the streets, you'll be in even more danger than you would be at the station."

"Excuse me for not buying that for a second."

"Look, you know Koslov wants your pelt, and that means everyone in his gang will want it as well."

"So does everyone at the ZPD." Nick sneered.

They heard a jingling above their heads. The phone Judy had been trying to convince Nick to help her reach was ringing. They ignored what was obviously a wrong number.

Judy's large eyes hardened, almost completely shrouding their purple glint. "Not everyone. I don't want you dead. Neither does Captain Bogo, and he returned to duty earlier tonight. He can protect you."

Nick turned away just as the phone stopped ringing. "You don't get it. To them, I'm public enemy number one, and there's no telling how many of those bastards are dirty." He locked eyes with her to make sure she was listening. "You take me back, you're taking me to my death."

Judy blinked, no longer looking so sure of herself. She pulled out her useless phone and stared at its black screen. She looked up briefly when the public payphone started ringing again. "Savage said the same thing."

"What?" Nick asked, trying to ignore the irritating jingle in his ears.

With a face like a deer in headlights, Judy shook her head. "Nothing. Just nothing."

"If you're talking about the spy bunny, then that sure as hell isn't just nothing!"

Judy gaped. "You know?"

"I nearly died six times saving his tail, so yes, I know!"

The rabbit groaned and rubbed her forehead. "You know what, I'm going to refrain from interrogating you until after I find an aspirin."

"I feel your pain." Nick said, nodding. "I'm getting a migraine myself. Must be an allergy to handcuffs."

"Okay, enough!" Judy snapped and waved her paws in front of his face. "The point is, I need to contact Precinct One and at least let them know I'm ok."

Nick shook his head. How was she not getting it? "You do that, you're leading the rest of the TUSKs right to us."

"We don't know the rest of them are involved." Judy looked up for a moment at the phone when it stopped ringing.

"Yes, we do! Tell me, did you hear back from the squad that was sent up Founder's Mountain?"  
"What're you talking about? We didn't send anyone up there."

Nick raised a brow at her. "You seriously don't know? You work in the same building as them."

"It must have been a covert op." Judy explained. "They'll be doing that more often with a gang war going on."

"So if, say, the entire squad was massacred by unknown hostiles just as they were about to kill a fugitive fox and his friends, you wouldn't know about that either?"

Before the stunned Judy could articulate a response, the payphone started its jingle for the third time. The rabbit groaned. "Ugh, help me reach that thing!"

"Ugh, cuffs?" Nick jangled them in front of her.

Judy rolled her eyes and pulled out a key. "Try anything and you're carrot pulp."

"Sure, sure."

Once the cuffs were off, Nick had no problem giving the rabbit a boost to shut that phone up once and for all. Once she was on his shoulders an intended jab died in his throat. "You're lighter than you look, you know that?"

"Oh shush." An charmed smile crossed her face as she grabbed the phone, which was so large she had to hold it with both paws. "Hello?"

_"About fucking time! I was just about to send my bishop to catch your bloody attention!"_

Nick felt Judy's legs stiffen on either side of his head at the same time he froze up himself. All this time, the caller had been after _them_? And where had he heard her voice before?

"You again!" Judy exclaimed.

_"Yes, me again, White Queen." _It was eerie how quickly the fiery voice turned cool as frost.

Nick's ears picked. "You know her?'  
"She's the anonymous caller who told me where to find you." Judy hissed down at him before returning to the receiver. "Who are you? And no wonderland quotes!"

There was a soft chuckle. _"I am the Red Queen. You may be wondering why I orchestrated Nicholas's 'freedom.'" _The word positively dripped sarcasm, and Nick felt his face twisting in anger. Ever since he'd escaped the convoy, his freedom had consisted of one struggle for survival after another.

"It was you who crashed Wilde's convoy taking him to prison." The rabbit whispered. "First off I'm more interested in how you knew which phone to call." She turned her head left and right, looking through the phone booth windows. She stopped and pointed. Nick saw a traffic camera above a nearby crosswalk pointing in their direction.

"Jesus." He whispered.

Judy looked down at the large black receiver. "Well? Are you going to explain yourself, 'your highness?'"

_"I am. It's time you learned the truth, Officer Hopps."_ The Red Queen spoke. _"It was I who administered the antidote to Nick after the first Jabberwock shot him. Then I caused his convoy to crash so he could escape, just as you deduced. Finally, I sent some pawns to provide the headset that enabled Nick to assist in his own rescue."_

"Antidote…" Judy repeated. "So the savage attacks were planned. All of them. And Wild Times was just a…" She propped herself against the payphone box. Nick could feel her deflating on his shoulders. Everything about this case, the savage attacks, Nick's culpability, all of it, had been a lie, a lie that she had naïvely contributed to preserving.

Feeling a mix of snide satisfaction and pity, Nick decided to take the questioning from there. "Who's doing this? And what do you mean the first Jabberwock?"

_"Carlton Woolton, the Queen of Hearts' right-hand ram. He assumed the role of the false wolf so he could target predators and make them go savage. The purpose was to prove that the collars were needed in spite of their growing notoriety. My Red Knight dealt with him, but the Queen has since summoned a new Jabberwock, far more dangerous than his cousin. He's already come close to killing you both."_

"Mark II." Judy muttered quietly. She noticed Nick's confused look. "Remember? That's the codename that sniper used." She looked back to the receiver. "Who killed Dr. Lemming? Sedor?"

_"Nope, that was all me."_ Nick shivered at the hint of cheerful glee in the Red Queen's confession. _"The little termite spent years digging into our minds like blocks of rotten wood. I like to think he lived long enough to know how that feels."_

Judy's eyes became haunted. She raised a paw to cover her mouth. Nick looked up at her sickened reaction, feeling glad that ZNN never let the details of Lemming's death go public. With the terrible knowledge of what kind of mammal they were speaking to, Judy responded with a tremble in her voice. "Why? Why are you doing all this?"

_"We both want the same thing. Satisfaction."_

"Revenge?" Nick asked.

_"Hmmm, good guess, but no. To call terrorizing hundreds of innocent people revenge is just plain silly. Besides, that's not why I'm calling. No, I'm here to inform you that you are playing a game."_

"I have no interest in playing games with terrorists." Judy retorted.

"And I'm already working with superspies, so sorry." Nick added.

"I'm taking Wilde in and I'm going to solve this case my own way." Judy said. "You will face justice for what you've done to this city, I'll see to it myself!"

_"Due to the fact that you have up to now been unaware of the game you are partaking in, I will give you some advice before your next move is played. Taking on the Court of Hearts alone is a fool's errand. But I'll be happy to stay out your way and let you try. You know what? I'll call Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee! They can give you a lift to the precinct, free of charge."_

"No, don't!" Judy held the receiver with one arm and pulled out her dart gun.

"You're watching us right now. How do I know you won't just kill us all the second we step out this booth?" Nick asked, not liking the idea of any more than the rabbit did.

_"Now that would just be a complete waste. I didn't walk in front of a moving convoy just so I could put you down later. And I have better things to do than silencing the ignorant twaddle and archaic opinions of tri-burrow fluff-butts."_

Nick felt Judy tense. "Skip the monologue! The only one ignorant here is you!" She snapped.

_"And what is it that I'm ignorant about?"_ The Red Queen asked with a hint of amusement.

Judy huffed. "You terrorists are all the same. You bomb buildings and shoot up schools and play your sick games, but you never really get what you want. You're nothing but insane murderers with an impossible cause."

_"I am insane, true, but anyone can murder. Wasn't it a rhino commander who almost murdered your captain? Wasn't it an savage elephant that almost killed him five years ago? Wasn't it a pair of TUSK razorbacks that tried to kill you?"_

"This isn't about predators, this is about you!"

_"Interesting. You immediately assume that I'm talking about predators. Just like this shifty fox and that innocent cheetah. Criminals just one step away from revealing their true colors. Perhaps you're right. Perhaps I am a fool to believe that my extreme methods will get the results I want. That would make me no different than a dumb bunny."_

Judy gritted her teeth. "I am not a dumb bunny."

_"When you were ordered to not follow that weasel into Little Rodentia, did you obey? Think about the potential consequences of your insubordination? Consider an alternate course of action?"_

Judy paused. "Getting the bad guy was my-"

The Red Queen cut her off sharply. _"No, you didn't listen. And you nearly lost your badge because of it. And when Nick told you about the false wolf responsible for the savage attacks, did you listen?"_

"He gave me every reason to distrust him!"

_"And you gave the Jabberwock free reign to continue attacking innocent people" _The Red Queen cut her off again, with increased ferocity._ "And we mustn't forget your dear father. If it weren't for Nick, he and Bonnie would be receiving news of your death right now because you didn't listen! You promised them you wouldn't put yourself in unnecessary danger, and you lied!"_

"I didn't lie!" Judy cried. "I just… told them what they wanted to hear."

_"And what do you think the Court of Hearts has being doing all this time? For decades they have spread their lies throughout the city, telling the ignorant masses want they want to hear, doing all in their power to maintain their false utopia and keep the savage predators under their heel. But what if you could tell them what they _need_ to hear?"_

Judy didn't respond. Nick felt the silence pressing in all around them, like the damp clothes chilling their bodies.

_"That is the impossible cause we're striving for: we're giving the people of Zootopia a wake-up call. They've spent so long fearing our claws and fangs, they've forgotten what their own kind are capable of."_

"While at the same time putting the squeeze on the mammals behind the savage predator conspiracy." Nick said. "With prey being turned savage as well, it's only a matter of time before people realize what was really going on."

There was a pause, then a slow tapping sound coming from the receiver. Nick realized he was hearing the sound of clapping. _"Well. Done. You'd make a pretty good cop."_

"When hell freezes over." Nick said with false bravado. "So kudos to you for trying to open their eyes, but I'm more interested in what you want with me."

_"We both want the truth. We want to know why they did what they did to us. Then we can use that truth to make them pay for what they've done. Well, at least I do. You just want your freedom."_

"Ok, now I'm listening."

_"Now that's more like it."_ The Red Queen said happily._ "To find the truth, you need the Vorpal Blade."_

Nick frowned. "Vorpal… what?"

_"Just a code name that I came up with, for a computer disk that eluded me several months ago. It contains everything you need to destroy this Wonderland the Court of Hearts has created. I think one of you has already found it for me."_

Nick realized what the Red Queen was talking about as soon as she said it. "And if we find this disk and make its contents public, would that prove my innocence?"

_"You are most assuredly guilty of building Wild Times, but you will be absolved of causing the savage attacks."_

Nick almost told her then and there. Almost. Then Judy suddenly shouted. "No! We're not doing anything you say! I'm taking Wilde in and that's that!"

_"That would be one of the stupidest moves you've made."_

"Why?" Judy asked.

_"Because he's seen too much. You both have. He has been in contact with one of the escaped test subjects. He's seen the false wolf. He knows about the serum. His testimony is not something Swinton will want to appear in court, fox or not. What you really should be doing is finding the Vorpal Blade, exposing the truth, and making the world a better place."_

"Look at what you've done! You can't seriously think I'll believe that you care about making the world a better place!" Judy accused.

_"Wrong, I care about bringing the world back to reality. I am not asking you to work with us. I am giving you some tips on how to play the game. You've seen the true nature of TUSK, and that is one more truth that the Queen of Hearts cannot allow to be revealed. Precinct One is no longer safe for you."_

"Bogo will protect us!" Judy fired back.

_"And likely get the rest of this throat slit for his trouble. The Tweedles are almost here. If you can persuade them, they will take you anywhere you want. I suggest you play your next move wisely."_

Nick heard the engine of an approaching car. A lemon from the sounds of it. He turned his head to see headlines coming around the street corner. It was a small blue car. Judy gasped when she saw the two rabbits through the windshield.

"How did you get my parents' number?!" She yelled.

_"It wasn't that hard, really. You'll be on your own for the rest of the game, White Queen, so I will advise you one last time. With the Vorpal Blade you can claim the King of Hearts and save this city. Or you can follow protocol and take this fox back to the station. Put him in a cell where he can cause no more trouble. Become the hero of Precinct One. But it will be on your head when Nick is shot dead in his cell, and you and your friends become loose ends to tie up, because you didn't listen. Again."_

There was a click, and the phone went dead. Judy slowly put the phone back just as the car skidded to a stop outside the booth. The rabbit dropped down and watched as Stu and Bonnie leapt out the truck. Nick saw her eyes harden as she made a decision. Before he knew it, she was unlocking the cuffs.

"What the hell are you doing?" Nick hissed.

"Making my move." Judy looked sickened with herself. "Pretend your name is John."

"What?!"

"Just do it!"

Stu Hopps reached the booth first and flung the door open. "Judy!" He threw his arms around her, as did Bonnie when she reached them. "Oh, sweetheart, how did you end up in a river? You must be absolutely freezing, are you alright?"

"I've got blankets in the car, stay here!" Bonnie ran right back out the booth. Stu spotted Nick over Judy's shoulder, leapt back with a cry and pulled out a fox tazer. "You!" Nick recoiled with a curse.

"No, dad, stop!" Judy restrained his tazer arm before he could thrust. "This isn't Wilde!"

"His picture's all over the news!" Stu shouted.

"Predators all look alike, dad, you said it yourself!" Judy wrenched the tazer from his paw. "This fox's name is John and his car broke down. Do you think you could give us both a lift?"

"John- car- lift?" Stu sputtered. "How do we know he's not just faking the name?"

"See this?" Judy pulled out a collar scanner. "It can also scan collars to identify the wearer. I scanned him just now and it's definitely not Nicholas Wilde."

Stu eyed the fox warily. "You're sure?"

Judy sighed. "Dad, I'm sure."

Stu reached under his hat to scratch his head, not looking entirely convinced. "Alright, I'll take your word for it. I'm still not sure about letting him in the car."

"Dad, I'll keep an eye on him. Could you go explain to mom so she doesn't freak out? I need to ask John for his address."

"Couldn't he just call a cab?" Stu pointed up at the phone.

"We couldn't get one with everything that's happening." Judy explained. "Go talk to mom."

Stu gave Nick one last suspicious look before walking out the booth and letting the door slide closed behind him. Nick stared at Judy like she'd just eaten a chicken burger. "What the hell, Carrots?"

"Is there a place where we can lay low and figure out where to find that disk she was talking about?" Judy asked.

"Seriously, what the hell?" Nick repeated. "What happened to always getting the bad guy?"

Judy rubbed her arms to warm herself. "Because I realized... as much as I didn't want to believe her, I did."

"Finally caught on to the truth, did you? Took you long enough." Nick immediately regretted how needlessly cruel he'd been, but Judy didn't look too hurt.

"I'm just sorry I had to learn the hard way. The only way I can solve this case and save Zootopia is if I find the Vorpal Blade." She rubbed an ear. "And I think I know what that is."

Nick's ears pricked. "What?"

"When I found that jeep full of bodies on Founder's Mountain, I also found this disk. I gave it to Agent Savage so he could use it as evidence against Swinton."

Nick blinked twice, then started laughing. Judy stared at him like _he_ had just eaten something ridiculous. "What? What's so funny?"

"I'll explain once we're safe. There's a safehouse on the edge of Tundratown where we can hide until we're hypothermia-free. Your parents can take us there."

"This place wouldn't happen to have some form of communication equipment, would it? I need to contact Bogo and warn him about the Red Queen."

"The safehouse belongs to this friend of mine. She doesn't live there right now, but it should have something you could use."

Nick felt uneasy just telling Judy all this. Judy seemed to sense this. "If you want, I can also find out what happened to your friend. Finnick, wasn't it?"

"Yes. Please." Nick insisted. Worry over the unknown status of his mercurial little buddy had been gnawing at his insides like a maggot. He'd been worried about Gabe, too, but that cheetah could handle himself. Thinking about Gabe made Nick think of another cheetah. "Could you find out about Benji, too? I haven't heard anything about him since buffalo-butt almost got killed. I'll feel better know he's okay, too."

Judy blinked and swallowed, suddenly looking like she'd rather not be in this booth with him. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. At first.


	21. Benjamin III

Benjamin found the signpost just as he was beginning to consider taking his chances back at the asylum, a splintering, ancient thing that seemed to have merged with a raggedy bush. He'd walked alongside the ravine for hours, cold and miserable, as well as terrified that Sedor or one of those helmeted wolves would catch up to him at any moment. There didn't seem to be any way across the ravine other than the asylum's bridge, and he would surely freeze to death before he reached the end. Wherever Cunninghorn had ended up after Sedor was through with him, the cheetah hoped it wasn't nice.

The signpost was a godsend, he was sure of it. He parted the branches of the bush so he could better see the signs. There were three in total: one for the asylum pointing back the way he came, one for a place called Swinetown Mine pointing further up the mountain, and a third for a place called Rockmaw Lookout pointing further along the ravine. Benjamin had no idea what Rockmaw Lookout was, but it sounded promising. If he could get a lay of the land, he could find a way back to the city. He looked closer. Something had been scratched into the third sign, a word and a number, 'Subject 12'. He didn't know what that meant and he didn't care.

With renewed hope he pressed on, wary of the occasional crumbling sound he heard coming from the edge of the ravine. Aside from his steadily growing fear that he wouldn't make it off this mountain, his thoughts kept returning to the asylum. The silence Cunninghorn had received from the building prior to Sedor's ambush had been even more frightening than if Benjamin's would-be captors had actually emerged to collect him. Something very illegal had been going on in that place, if the isolation and choice of location had been any indication, and it had involved Sedor and those other missing mammals. Benjamin doubted that they were the ones Cunninghorn had tried to sell him to and wasn't happy at what he pictured what had happened to the original inhabitants.

Something violent had happened in that place, but in terms of survivability the forest wasn't proving a better option. Still, it would take far more than potential hypothermia, dehydration and donut deprivation to make him go back to that place.

At least the forest was more pleasant to be in. A light drizzle had begun, disturbing the leaves and making the trees seem alive. The shadows mixed with the vegetation seemed to pulse and dance, and had him flinching at anything that even remotely resembled another mammal. At least there were no blood and bodies.

He stuck to the edge of the trees, always listening for signs of those monsters from the asylum, until his ears caught the sound of flowing water. Dawn was on its way, but it was still dark enough that he didn't see the steam until he stumbled and found himself standing in soupy mud. The stream poured over the edge and cascaded into the river far below. The river seemed higher up than it did before. "Oh, thank goodness." Benjamin breathed, his mouth having steadily gotten drier over the last few hours. He got down on his knees and reached into the water- _omigosh!_

The feline recoiled, backing away from the stream like a fat round spider. It wasn't until his heart stopped pounding enough to hurt that he had the courage to approach the river again and take another look at what had scared him.

Staring up at the cheetah like a macabre warning sign was a skull, aged to resemble the rocks that wedged it between them. Benjamin had never seen a skull outside of the Natural History Museum. When he was little, the big centerpiece of the Ice Age Exhibit had been the skeleton of a Mastadon, an extinct species of elephant. When the teacher had told the class of this, he'd thought she'd been lying. The skull could only have belonged to a monster; the massive single nasal cavity in the front of the skull could have been the single eye socket of a cyclops. Elephants couldn't have ever had such awful looking teeth if they only ate vegetables. The skull overall looked so bizarre that the little boy had thought it had come from an alien.

The smaller skull in this little stream was worse than that unnatural monstrosity, because he knew right away what animal it was; a bovine. He could see the large horns curving out from either side of it. This could have been a cow, or a bull, or a buffalo.

Three weeks ago, it could have been Bogo.

The skull and the rocks around seemed to turn a shade lighter as Benjamin stared down at it, and he looked up toward the blazing pink and orange colors of dawn rising up over the silhouetted trees. Above the trees he saw a distant shape that looked vaguely like a cabin.

Benjamin couldn't believe he hadn't realized it sooner. Rockmaw Lookout was a fire lookout tower. From his location by the stream he had no idea if it were occupied or not, but his chances may have just doubled. He could hide from the cold and the crazies for a while, see how far from Zootopia he really was. Maybe he'd even find some stuff he could use. A map, some cans of food, a radio that didn't run out of juice before he could figure out how to use it… heck, a flare gun or even a crossbow and arrows would be great. Some donuts, fresh preferably, would really make his day.

Benjamin passed over the stream and continued on. He could always return to it later on, drink upstream from the skull, and hope he didn't get the poops.

His surroundings grew steadily lighter as he walked, but it was still mostly night when he reached the bottom of the hill on which the tower sat. The decrepit sight of the wooden sign and its unintelligent writing wasn't a good sign, but he'd take what he could get. The path upward was overgrown and steep, and there was no rail to make his ascent easier; the ground was wet and full of rocks, with only the occasional tuft of grass. By the time he reached the top, he was wheezing like a pair of bellows. He stepped onto the wooden deck, noticing that it was grey and speckled with age. He looked through the window, but there wasn't enough light to make out what was inside. It looked like several bundles hanging from the ceiling. It didn't seem to be occupied by any living being, so he tried the handle.

The door turned out to be unlocked. He pushed it open, ready to run at the first sign of movement… and froze, stunned by the new nightmare he had walked into. An oven, sink and minifridge lined the right hand side of the room, beside a sitting area consisting of padded chairs with dark wooden frames set atop a lavish red rug. It was like a trophy room in a Eweropean hunting lodge, only its trophies were being displayed in a manner that was nothing short of chilling. It wasn't bundles that Benjamin had seen through the windows, but birds. Ducks, geese, pigeons, crows, ravens and even a great horned owl hung lifelessly from the ceiling by their talons, wings splayed out in glossy feathered crucifixes, dangling above funnels sunk into small plastic bottles, their red contents reflecting the muted dawn light that fell upon the elegantly crafted coffee table in between the chairs…

Benjamin softly gasped once before finding further breathing difficult.

On the table lay the headless skeleton of a large hooved mammal, its white coat ripped to ragged shreds and discolored in reddish brown stains. The bones were yellowed and covered in what looked like bits of cloth and dirt, or at least that was what he hoped. Benjmain was starting to suspect this was a dream and he was still unconscious in Cunninghorn's car when a greyish black bundle hanging from a beam suddenly unfurled its leathery wings with a loud shriek. The cheetah fell back with a cry, his back hitting the wall beside the open door. It was a bat, a little creature hanging upside down right above the skeleton in white surrounded by dead birds and bottles full of blood. Benjamin pressed himself against the wooden wall and window glass, staring up at the bat, which stared right back with red, curious eyes. Then it flapped its wings once and made sure its featureless red mask was secure. "Oh. I do beg your pardon. I thought you were one of my acquaintances." He spoke with a neutral Animerican accent. For some reason Benjamin had expected Transylmanenian. The bat beckoned the cheetah with a wing. He sounded friendly, but Benjamin wished he could see whatever expression the masked creature was making. "Come closer, stranger. You look thirsty." The bat gestured to the minifridge as he spoke.

Benjamin glanced at the nearest dead bird and quickly held up a paw. "T-thank you, but I don't drink. Blood, I mean."

The bat didn't seem offended, but with the mask on it was impossible to tell. "I meant water. There is clean water in the fridge, if you wish to have some. Would you like some tea? I have power. The kettle works."

Benjamin became aware once more of the dryness in his mouth, which by now had spread to his throat. If he didn't take the bat up on his offer, his chances of survival were halved. Reluctantly he started making his way over to the minifridge, ducking low to avoid the birds. "How do we know it's clean?"

"I keep purifying tablets in the drawer. Better safe than sorry, you know?" The bat almost sounded assuring, but the way his gaze darted around at all his dead birds was unnerving, like he was expecting one of them to suddenly come back to life at any moment. Benjamin reached the minifridge, dreading what he would find. When he opened it, he found more bottles of blood. The narrow shelves on the door contained the water the bat offered. The water looked innocuous in its unmarked bottles, and when he tasted it, it tasted like it had come straight out the tap.

"Thank you." He said, taking care to be polite as he stepped closer to the coffee table.

"Are you Benjamin Clawhauser?" The bat asked.

Benjamin felt a jolt in his chest. "Yes, I am. And you are?"

The bat's response confirmed the cheetah's suspicions of his mental state. "Twelve. Subject Twelve. But I prefer to be called Levvar. Lev, if you stay on my good side."

"Subject… Twelve?" Benjamin took another sip of water and his body shivered. He was still wet and cold. "You said there was tea?"

"In the drawer. Subject Twelve is what the Knave of Hearts called me."

"Knave of…" Benjamin started to consider seeing himself out.

"Slothfeld." Levvar spoke with a hateful hiss that had Benjamin pressing his body to the oven. "I see you are afraid, but do not be. You are more fortunate that you realize. Had the Queen of Hearts' knight brought you here several months ago, you would have ended up just like all the others."

Benjamin poured the water into the kettle and looked for a mug and tea bag, looking again at the dead, drained birds. He paused a bit longer when his eyes fell on the skeleton.

"They never suffer." The bat said as if reading his mind. "After the wolves hunt them, they bring the birds here to be drained for my own meals before they are taken to the asylum to be prepared."

Benjamin's paws clenched around the mug as the kettle hissed behind him. Levvar was one of them. Worse, his 'acquaintances' could come back at any time. Benjamin looked out the windows, but he saw nothing but trees. _For now! This guy knows who I am! He knows I'm the guy Sedor's been chasing for over a month! This isn't an out of the frying pan and into the fire scenario, more like out of the fire and into the god-damned trash can! _Yet the more Benjamin thought about it, the more he felt bad for Levvar. Just like Sedor and those wolves, something had driven him mad, and was almost certainly this Slothfeld's doing. God only knew what horrors those mammals had been through.

"And that…" Levvar said with another hiss, pointing straight down at the skeleton beneath him. His pupils were dilated, red eclipses blazing down upon the corpse. "Is Slothfeld's assistant. He tried to use our escape to his advantage. He stole the Vorpal Blade and fled with three others, but they died like all the rest."

Benjamin froze in the middle of sipping his tea. _All… the rest?_

"You said I would end up like the others. What exactly did you mean?" He asked shakily.

"Another chomper for the experiment. Project Twilight. You would not be completely feral, so you couldn't be called savage, but neither would you be sane. On the other hand, you missed one hell of a feast."

Benjamin drank his tea with shaking paws, but it was no longer the cold that affected them. He was getting the wrong idea, he had to be, but the implications were making his skin crawl. What Sedor had done to that ram…

"He only had himself to blame, you know. They all did. They wanted monsters, they created monsters, and then they got monsters. Then the Red Queen and her knight set them free to destroy their makers." Levvar's demeanor had become jovial as he gazed upon the death doctor. "Subject Eight helped me with this one. Knew a toxin that could cause paralysis without erasing the ability to feel pain. To think I once thought floristry was a soft job…"

Benjamin put down his mug without finishing it, physically sick with terror. _Shit, shit, shit, he's not just crazy, he's a frickin' mass murderer…_

"Thanks for the tea. I-I think I'll be going home, now!" The bat looked him dead in the eye, those crimson irises following the cheetah as he slowly made his way back to the open door.

"I don't think that's a good idea."

Benjamin grabbed the gently swinging door. "I'm sorry, but I really need to go."

Levvar tilted his head. "You don't know, do you? You must have been taken before it happened."

Benjamin paused halfway out the door. "Before what happened? Did something happen in Zootopia?"

Levvar turned his entire body toward the window and observed at the view. The bright orange color was fading away as the weather gradually turned cloudy. "They only had themselves to blame."

Benjamin stared at the bat. "What did you do to the city?"

Levvar removed his mask and turned back to face him. Benjamin saw the uneven grin spreading across the creature's face. "What should have been done a long time ago. Go back to the city, if you wish, but you're no safer down there than you are up here."

"And what is the best way to get there?" Benjamin asked, hoping the answer wasn't the asylum.

"At the end of this ravine is a colliery. Look." Benjamin looked where the bat pointed; he saw some kind of tower with a wheel on it. "An hour's walk, but when you get there you will find a path that will take you straight down to the city. Can you drive?"

"Yeeeahhh…" Benjamin doubted Levvar would care that Finnick had taught him to drive and that he didn't actually own a license.

"Good. Near the colliery is a car. Several months have passed since it was last used, but it will be useable."

That sounded too good to be true. "And why the dickens should I trust you?"

Levvar snickered. "You should be going now. They will be here soon to pick up the birds."

Benjamin stepped out and started to shut the door. Before closing it completely he took one last look at Levvar. The bat had curled his wings back into himself, sheltering his head from the coming daylight and returning to whatever dark fantasies he'd been dreaming before the cheetah had interrupted. "Bye." Benjamin said quietly. He closed the door, leaving Levvar alone with his exsanguinated birds. He managed to get down the hill quicker and easier than when he went up it, and continued on his way along the ravine.

It was a grey cloudy morning when he reached the colliery, an elaborate but dilapidated construction both atop and within the ravine. An orange brick chimney as big as a cell tower was the first thing that caught his eye. "It's a mine." Benjamin realized after an hour of wondering what exactly a colliery was. There was a cluster of large brick buildings situated just far enough from the edge of the ravine that it wasn't dangerous. That would be the best place to start looking for a car. If Levvar had been telling the truth.

Benjamin found wandering through the mine less unsettling than the fire lookout tower full of dead birds, but no less surreal. It was like going back in time while simultaneously being trapped in Purgatory. The place was deserted, and the dull weather had draped a grey, dreary hue upon almost everything his eyes fell on. There was green here too, from the trees, bushes and grass growing in places they shouldn't be growing, like the forest was slowly but surely swallowing the area back up again. Benjamin's unease faded as he explored the empty buildings and observed the abandoned equipment within, his unease giving way to fascination. There was a forge in one corner of the area, full of coal tubs left behind rather than having time wasted repairing them. There were stores and workshops full of things he couldn't even begin to name. The towers and chimney loomed over him like blackened skeletal trees. He found the vehicle in the street outside a building on the edge of the mine, on the far side of the ravine. It stood beneath a pine tree on the edge of the street beside the open doors to the building, a modern anomaly covered in fallen needles. It was an unmarked, bulky black jeep, designed specifically for wild terrain. Benjamin raced over and grabbed at the door handle. The door stayed put.

_Sweet sprinkles, you just had to be locked, didn't you?!_

Benjamin looked through the window. The keys weren't in the ignition, but the gas meter was full, and the lack of dead bodies was also a bonus. If God was real and actually gave a crap about his creations, then the keys wouldn't have gone far.

The cheetah kicked the wheel of the jeep before going to the open entrance into the building and stopping dead in the doorway. What he saw inside wasn't horrifying or even remotely creepy. It was just surprising.

He was looking at a camp site set up in the wide space between the entrance and the large grey shaft that housed the elevator to the mines underground, only it didn't look like the campers were here for hiking. Everything about the site screamed black. There were black cases, black sleeping bags, even a black camping stove covered in dust. There was also some kind of communication equipment complete with a dish and headset, but Benjamin wouldn't have known how to use it even if it didn't look broken. The only things weren't black were the weapons. Honey would have field day with this stuff. There were empty gun cases, but except for some hardcore tranq darts their contents were nowhere to be found. There was a box of items shapes like flashlights, except instead of lenses they had some kind of net weave. He found the net gun itself atop a black crate, but it was broken. Finally in one corner, there was a cage with thick bars. Somehow Benjamin doubted the campers had been hunting for birds. He wandered around the deserted camp, looking for his own quarry. The windows had been boarded up long ago, so there was little light to be had other than what came in through the doorway. With the help of a flashlight he found on one of the sleeping bags, he found what he was hunting for.

"Yes. Yes, _yes_!" Benjamin gasped, grabbing the keys to the jeep from underneath a small pile of maps on a makeshift table set up from two crates. Pocketing the keys, he noticing something curious about one of the maps. Unlike the other green colored maps of the mountain, this one was hand drawn, likely by one of the campers, depicting the system of mine tunnels beneath. It seemed to spread all the way across the mountain, to another colliery on the other side labelled 'Swinetown.' Benjamin looked over at the elevator, perplexed by the need of such a map. That elevator couldn't possibly work after so long. Could it?

He strode over to the elevator, and while he wasn't a Master of Engineering like Honey was he had caught on enough to know that something was off above the machinery. It should have been as old as decrepit as everything else, but the cables appeared to have been regularly maintained. The parts in the metal box up above looked almost new. For the sake of it he pressed the button on the side and drew back in surprise when the machine came to life with a sudden rumble. The cables started to move, lowering the elevator down into the darkness of the shaft.

Benjamin shone the flashlight down, watching the elevator descend until the beam could no longer reach it. There was a rattle, then the cables stopped moving.

To heck with this. He wasn't here to solve a mystery. He just wanted to go home. He turned away from the shaft and crossed the campsite. He stopped near the doorway and turned again, scolding himself for nearly forgetting the maps as he went back to retrieve them. With the maps in paw he stepped out the doorway, looked to the jeep, and felt his blood freeze.

_Oh no, it's him!_

Sedor Valentino was looking into the front compartment of the jeep, completely cutting Benjamin off from his ticket off the mountain.

Terrified for his life and furious with himself for not getting back to the jeep when he had the chance, the cheetah ran back inside the building and shut the doors as quietly as possible. Everything went black. He'd forgotten about the boarded-up windows. He turned on the flashlight. "Great. What do I do now?" He whispered to himself. Had Sedor heard him? Would he notice the closed doors? Had Levvar tipped him off? Why had he wasted time checking out the stupid elevator?

The elevator!

Benjamin ran over to the elevator, tripping over a sleeping bag on the way, and pressed the button again. The elevator started to rise with an ear-splitting grinding sound.

"Shut up, shut up, _shut up!_" Benjamin begged and spun round to check on the doors, just in time to see one of them open. He ran around behind the shaft, the only place in the room to hide.

Pale grey light shone on the walls, leaving a wide shadow right behind the shaft. Benjamin heard himself breathing loudly and covered his mouth. The room was silent. Had Sedor given up already? He looked around the corner and saw Sedor shutting the doors, casting the room in darkness once more, and twisting the handles together into a gnarled spiral. Then he turned round and pulled out a cave torch. Benjamin pulled his head away and flattened himself against the exterior of the shaft, squeezing his own flashlight in his paws, listening to the massive grizzly's heavy footsteps as he approached.

They stopped on the other side of the shaft. Benjamin took a peek through a rust hole and saw a button and black fabric from Sedor's coat. The bear was watching the rising elevator. It reached the top, blocking the hole, and stopped. There was a metallic rattling creak as the doors slid open. There wasn't any more footsteps; Sedor must be staying put. Benjamin could see the beam of the flashlight floating around the walls and floor.

The cheetah stepped away from the wall, wiping tears of fear from his eyes. He only had one shot at this. If he screwed up again, he was done. He heard footsteps. Sedor was on the move. He risked a peek to see the bear approaching the cage and shine the light through the bars, looking for anyone trying to hide on the other side. In his other paw he was carrying that massive cleaver.

Benjamin would have to count to three, otherwise he would never get off the spot he was rooted top. One… two… Sedor started to look around the communication equipment, kicking aside a heavy black box…

Benjamin grabbed the corner of the shaft and dragged himself away from his hiding place. The bear turned and spotted him just as he rounded the next corner and punched the button. Sedor tossed the torch aside and pursued. Benjamin entered the elevator and spun round to see the doors close between them. Sedor grabbed the doors, the black lenses of his plague doctor mask fixed on his prey, and started to pull them apart.

The elevator began its descent, pulling Sedor's paws down with it. The thing shuddered under Benjamin's feet as the bear tried to pull it back up. For one terrifying second it actually stopped, but then the rusted grating gave way and tore from its frame. Then Benjamin could see nothing but the side of the shaft as the elevator lowered out of Sedor's reach. The cheetah could no longer see the bear after that, but he heard him howling for blood. _My blood._

The last trickles of light from the surface disappeared as the elevator continued its way down. He turned his flashlight back on, stared at the doors with their ripped grated windows, and harbored doubts that he would ever see his friends again.


	22. Bogo III

When Bogo had made the decision to investigate the derelict sawmill first, he'd been expecting something out of a psychological horror movie. An ominous structure built from warped wooden planks so dark and moldy it looked like a fire had taken place. The building he shone his flashlight on looked almost welcoming, built from wood as orange as sunset. Bogo had investigated enough crimes to know that looks could be deceiving.

He pulled out his gun, taking point as they approached the sawmill, striding up the slope alongside the sluice that long ago transported logs for building up the first buildings of Zootopia. Reaching the doors first, he noticed they were slightly ajar. He signaled for McHorn to seek out any other exits, just in case the place turned out to be occupied, and waited until the rhino disappeared around the corner before nudging the door fully open.

His first impression of the room was emptiness. Other than what was left of the conveyor belts in the center of the room, the interior of the sawmill was barren. Then his eyes got to work, taking in the details and so his brain could deduce their significance. There was a thin layer of dust covering most of the room, so thin he had to bend down, look closely and run his finger across the floorboards to see it. Unusual for a place that closed down decades ago at least. There were footprints of all sizes, formed from the dust and mud from outside, but no toe marks. Mammals had been here recently, and they all had been wearing some kind of footwear. Flat soles with little dots for traction, possibly designed for wintery conditions too harsh even for polar bears to endure comfortably. Zootopian stores sold them in all but the most tropical districts. Bogo remembered at least four cases in which a perp had worn boots to avoid leaving incriminating hairs or pawprints at a crime scene. He would leave it to Forensics to determine how many mammals had been in this room.

"Look at the floor." Higgins muttered, sweeping the room with his gun while Bogo investigated, but the sawmill appeared devoid of suspects.

"I am looking at the floor." Bogo replied touchily. Something in the air was making his throat itch.

"See where it's clean?" Higgins replied.

Bogo looked further up the floor, shone his flashlight, and saw what his sergeant was talking about. There were large clear patches on the dusty floor, dozens of them. "Looks like this place was recently used as some kind of storage area." Higgins said. "Smuggled cargo, maybe?"

Bogo straightened himself. "Or maybe this was where the terrorists stored all their collars and everything else for their attacks. Look how spotless the spaces are. Whatever was in here had to have been moved out within a day. We should look for tire tracks once we're sure this place this clear."

Even as he said this, he knew in his gut that Cunninghorn wasn't here. None of the prints had the massive rounded shape of a rhino that he'd learned to identify. So where had he taken Ben?

_Calm down, Mansa. Don't let yourself get too frustrated. Remember what's on your wrist._

Bogo took a deep breath. This was just the first place they'd searched. The old lodge higher up was next.

"Guys! Over here!"

They turned their heads and saw McHorn's kneeling form on the other side of the conveyor belts. Taking care to avoid stepping on the prints and large square spaces, Bogo and Higgins joined their coworker.

"What is it?" Bogo asked.

Wise enough not to touch the faded brown stains he'd discovered, McHorn instead shone his light so they could see.

"It's all over the place."

Higgins' lips twisted in revulsion and he stepped away from the stains. "That's fucking disgusting."

McHorn glared up at the hippo. "What're you talking about? You saw worse when Woolton was eaten."

"Yeah, but at least Bug Burga had toilets. Didn't anything think to use a bush?"

McHorn stared at Higgins like he'd just asked a stupid question.

"You never read that Forensics book I got you, did you?"

"I specifically asked for the Book of Centerfire Rifles." Higgins said.

McHorn snorted in annoyance. "If you'd read it, you'd know that blood stains turn brown as they age. What did you think this is, diarrhea?"

Higgins didn't answer. Bogo snorted loudly. "Can we focus, please?"

They thankfully conceded to dropping the diarrhea subject, allowing the buffalo to point out one of the small stains. "See where it cuts off right next to that clear patch?"

"Yep. Looks like whoever took the crates took the bodies with them." McHorn said.

"We'll let Forensics decide what to make of it." Bogo said. "I'll call it in while you two finish securing the area."

Instead of taking out a radio he pulled out a satellite phone. He and Commissioner Elba had exchanged numbers while discussing the assignment, not wanting the buffalo's whereabouts to be public knowledge within the precinct. "Commissioner, it's Captain Bogo. No sign of Cunninghorn yet, but I think we're on the right track."

Elba's response was marred by the occasional static. _"Signal's poo- What's the situa-"_

Bogo grunted, annoyed with himself. He'd been warned that the phone wouldn't work as well indoors, yet he'd forgotten already. He stepped outside, sticking close to McHorn as he swept the grassy area beside the sluice. "That better, sir?"

_"Much. I'll ask again, what's the situation?"_

"We've searched the old sawmill, and I'm positive we've discovered a crime scene."

There was a pause. _"Which sawmill?"_

Bogo looked up, finding a convenient sign right above him. "There's only one, but it's called the Founder's Sawmill if that helps."

_"Don't be smart, Captain. What did you find, a body?"_

"Close. We've found blood. It's old, but there enough here to assume that something violent has happened here."

_"I'll send a team up there as soon as possible."_

A beam flashed across Bogo's eyes. He blinked and saw Higgins appear and the corner of a building and signal the all-clear. "Shall we stand by, sir?"

_"No. No-one can know you're doing." _Elba said. _"I'll tell them it was an anonymous tip. You need to continue your assignment."_

Bogo nodded. "Affirmative, sir. We'll search the lodge next." He paused. "Any word on Officer Hopps, sir?"

Elba's tone was apologetic. _"Not yet, but we're still searching. Be careful up there, Bogo."_

Bogo looked up the mountain. Beyond the treeline surrounding the sawmill there was nothing but darkness. "Copy that, sir."

He pocketed the phone and noticed Higgins standing right next to him, looking worried. "God, I hope she's okay."

"I just hope TUSK doesn't find her first, especially if she's telling the truth about what those razorbacks tried to do." McHorn said. "I'm even a little worried about Wilde. Crazy, huh?"

"Let the Commissioner take care of it for now. We need to keep moving." Bogo said.

Higgins snorted in confusion. "What about the crime scene?"

"Commissioner's orders. We're on a secret assignment, so we can't be here when the CID arrives." Bogo didn't feel comfortable about violating protocol like this either. Then again, he was committing an even worse violation by hiding the collar on his wrist. "The lodge is next, let's go."

Founder's Chasm Lodge was a two-hour drive from the sawmill, and by the time they got there the first orange slivers of dawn were creeping over the trees. After a quick refueling of both gas and coffee, they took a long look at the lodge through the windshield. The brightening sky gave just enough light to make out the overall shape; a classic mountain villa with two storeys and a porch as long as the bottom floor, grey brick foundation and thick log walls rugged with age, and large black windows. There were no tracks leading to or from the building. The place seemed deserted, but again looks were deceiving. Bogo's instincts were warning him to take extra care as he took point, approaching the front door of the lodge with McHorn and Higgins watching his back. He tugged the handle. Surprise, surprise, it was locked. He motioned for McHorn and Higgins to take a corner each and find another way in.

Bogo waited, keeping his eyes and gun on the door, noticing the chill creeping beneath his coat. Summer was almost over. He could see it in the hints of brown and gold appearing in any tree that wasn't evergreen. A stream ran quietly alongside the porch, untouched by city pollution, ferrying the occasional fallen leaf. It was this sort of natural beauty that had brought mammals up to this lodge in the past when they weren't hunting for birds. To think that Bogo would have missed it if not for Benjamin.

McHorn reappeared around the corner, motioning for Bogo to come with him. Bogo followed and saw the open window McHorn had discovered, more than big enough to enter. He radioed Higgins, who responded with the ladder he'd found leaning against the building beneath another open window, likely left behind by the builders hired to renovate the lodge before the owner was arrested for aggravated kidnapping. Chief Trunchbull had boasted about it after one too many brandies the night Bogo received his own promotion to captain; a senator's daughter, a wealthy zebra with a severe case of erotomania and an incriminating rag soaked in Chloroform had culminated in the biggest case of Trunchbull's career.

It had been the last case the elephant had solved, and the case that elevated him to Assistant Chief of Precinct One. The newspaper bearing the headline SENATOR'S DAUGHTER FOUND hung on a brass frame on Trunchbull's wall to this day. It was his pride and joy.

Bogo hesitated before the open window and wondered how the chief was faring. This was one case neither of them would want to remember.

Bogo made plans for the three of them to meet at the bottom of the stairs visible through the window and entered the main hall of the lodge first. The interior design was clearly intended to be rustic, but everything looked expensive. There was a seating area of plush emerald couches surrounding an ebony table in front of a fireplace built from smashed bricks. Three pool tables of different sizes sat close to a bar. The centerpiece was a giant display case that long ago would have housed a variety of stuffed birds. Bogo's alarm bells started ringing. The details were more apparent than they were in the sawmill. There was no dust to even rub his finger on. The tarps used to protect the furniture before the renovations were cut short had all been removed and now lay all over the floor. There were balls and a pair of cues atop the pool table. Most intriguing of all was the fireplace full of fresh logs waiting to be set alight.

Bogo locked eyes with McHorn. He gave a nod, indicating he'd seen the signs as well. They turned their backs on each other and split up to search the ground floor, McHorn going to search the door beside the bar, Bogo going to search the marked restroom doors beside the stairs. Perhaps out of instinctive preference he checked the male restroom first, and was surprised to see the small room warmly lit by candles sitting on a row of sinks. He looked behind to see McHorn disappear through the other door, and entered the restroom to start checking the cubicles. They reeked from recent use, but were all empty. The female restroom was even worse; when he discovered the inside of one cubicle soaked red with blood, he actually hoped to God that someone had been stabbed to death in there.

In any case, both restrooms were clear. Bogo quickly returned to the main hall and looked up the stairs. Seeing no sign of Higgins, Bogo called for him through the radio.

He exhaled when Higgins responded. "Code Four, Captain."

"Good to hear. Find anything yet?"

"Nothing yet, but someone's definitely been using the bedrooms. A few people from the looks of it. Hopefully just squatters."

At that moment McHorn reappeared in the other doorway. The sickened look on his face instantly had Bogo on edge. "I'm not so sure of that. Get your butt down here where I can see you."

"Got one more room to clear up here, Captain."

"Make it quick, but do not let your guard down." Bogo made his way over to McHorn. "What is it, Mac?"

McHorn swallowed and jerked his thumb behind him. "There's a trophy room back there. Someone's filled it full of- Jesus Christ-" He clamped a hoof over his mouth and heaved, though mercifully nothing came out. Bogo grabbed the rhino's shoulder and shook it.

"Mac, look at me! What did you find?"

McHorn only lowered his hoof when he was sure he wasn't going to puke. "Razorbacks." He said thickly. "The display cases are full of them. I only knew they were TUSK because of their uniforms… fuck… fuck, fuck, fuck… I'm telling you now, do not go in there."

Bogo's gut churned. McHorn rarely let murder scenes get under his skin. Not even the horrific sights of Lemming and Woolton's bodies had fazed him. Higgins' voice crackled through the radio. "TUSK? What was TUSK doing up here? Why the hell did no-one tell us about this?"

"I'm going to call this in." Bogo managed to keep his voice steady. "You almost done up there, Higgins?"

"Almost. Just got one more spot to lo-" BLAM.

Bogo heard the explosive sound of a gunshot from upstairs at the same time he heard it through the radio. Beneath his sleeve, the collar beeped. "Higgins!"

He raced toward the stairs, the thundering footsteps of McHorn not far behind, blind desperation making him oblivious to the blue tarp he passed over- CLANG!

Bogo shouted in more shock than pain, loud enough to drown out another beep of his collar, as the tarp clamped around his leg in the blink of an eye and nearly sent him sprawling to the floor. McHorn swore and dropped down to Bogo's side as the buffalo knelt down and grabbed at the tarp. Something underneath it, hard and curved, was holding his leg in place just beneath the knee. McHorn started pulling at the tarp himself, but Bogo batted his hooves away and pointing up the stairs. "Higgins!" He growled through gritted teeth. McHorn paused, then nodded and ran up the stairs to find the hippo.

Bogo pulled at the tarp until he exposed the bizarre device that entrapped him. It looked like a pair of slightly rusted steel jaws, fixed to the floorboards with thick bolts. A foothold trap. He'd heard stories of such devices being used in wars all over the world, intended to catch soldiers sneaking into enemy camps. It was a good thing the tarp had protected his flesh from the large triangular teeth; he hadn't had a tetanus shot in years. He tugged and pried at the jaws, his hardened muscles straining against the powerful spring, almost widening them enough to free himself.

Something black flared in the corner of his eye. He turned his head, and threw his arms up to catch the knife aiming for the eyeball that had spotted his attacker. He fell back and hit the floor, the wraith-like maniac propped on his torso as it forced the weapon down.

"You coppers brought this on us. You made us this way." The voice was feminine and harsh with hatred. "For that, I will find and gut every last one of you."

The blade gleamed like the slit of cat's eye as it shivered from the strain of keeping it at bay, beside the yellow light of Bogo's impromptu bracelet. Gripping the wrists of the attacker tight enough to bruise, Bogo looked beyond the knife to see their face. The collar beeped again when he saw the Ghostface mask. The other killer from the penthouse, just like Ben said. One gloved paw let go of the knife and tore free from Bogo's grip to grab another knife from their belt. Oh no, you don't! Bogo's fist shot past the knife and slugged the masked feline in the face. Their head shot to the side, their mask coming slightly loose, but the stunning blow only affected them for a moment. Then a knife plunged down toward his throat. Bogo brought an arm over his throat, catching the deadly tip of the blade with the metal strap of his watch, and the knife was deflected down his arm. Searing pain and warm wetness spread across his skin, dripping onto his face. Someone came thundering down the stairs, catching the attacker's attention. They leapt off Bogo's chest and threw one of their knives, knocking the gun from McHorn's hooves before he could aim. Ghostface and McHorn stopped moving, glaring daggers at each other while Bogo sat up between them.

"Where's Higgins?" He demanded.

"Shotgun blast." McHorn never took his eyes off the feline. A manic green eye glared at him from behind the tear between the white mask and its black hood. "That psycho rigged it to fire when Higgins opened the door. The vest took the worst of it."

The feline's entire body shivered as she laughed hideously. "The thing was full of rock salt, Horny. I'm not going to kill him that quickly."

"Shut it, bitch. You always have to leave your mark, don't you?" McHorn stepped sideways so Bogo was no longer between them and pulled out a dart gun.

The feline growled. "Bitch? You should have stuck with chomper." She shot forward like an arrow, ducking the dart McHorn fired at her. McHorn swung the empty weapon down, hitting her arm before she could plunge the knife into his knee. She leapt back and pulled out one more knife as McHorn ran after her.

Bogo didn't pay too much attention to the scuffle, but he could hear it as he again began to pry the metal jaws apart. He looked up momentarily to see the feline kick the dart gun from the rhino's grip and duck to avoid his fist. She slid between his legs and leapt onto his back, bringing the knife to his throat. McHorn grabbed her arm before she could deal the killing blow. Her other paw dug into his shoulder, trying to make him lose focus. Bogo could see how much it hurt in the way McHorn gritted his teeth. The rhino reached behind him, managing to grab the hood of the mask as his opponent somersaulted back, landing on the elegant coffee table.

Bogo tried to remember where he had seen the black jaguar's face before, but McHorn beat him to it. "Maria Manchas. The reports weren't wrong about you being a knife nut."

Maria scoffed. "Knife nut? I'm a knife fucking master!"

McHorn blew steam from his nostrils, tossed the knife he had managed to wrest from Maria's grip and unsheathed his baton. Bogo had witnessed the rhino's skills with the weapon firsthand, and hoped it was enough. The jaguar dropped down from the coffee table, picked up the knife she had thrown at McHorn earlier and stared at the rhino with eerie dead eyes as he advanced with the baton.

McHorn swung and thrust fiercely, intending to finish the fight with each blow, but in seconds it was apparent why Maria was so proficient in knife fighting. Even as his relentless left no openings for her knife, she blocked and deflected each blow with the speed of cobra and the strength of an ox, her expert footwork leading them past Bogo and his own struggle with the foothold trap. The buffalo saw the jaguar backing up towards a wall and realized that was McHorn's intention. Unfortunately, so did Maria. Right before her back hit the wall she strafed sideways, avoiding a vertical swing from the solid baton, and grabbed the weapon with both paws. She twisted viciously, tearing the baton from McHorn's fingers, and swung it at his head.

Bogo lifted his bruised leg free of the jaws just as he heard the crunch. He looked up, terrified to see McHorn staggering back and clutching his snout. Maria straightened from his stance, twirling the baton before resting it on her shoulder, grinning as she watching the rhino writhe in pain. When he finally lowered his hooves, there was a massive crack the length of his horn.

"You fucking bitch!" He bellowed.

"I always leave my mark, you said it yourself." Maria's grin diminished as she looked at Bogo. "But I'm not stopping there, I assure you."

Bogo stood up, staggering slightly, but he was sure the trap hadn't crippled him. "What did we do to you? Tell me!"

Maria cocked her head. "You seriously don't know? I suppose that's believable since you're not TUSK."

"What did they do, then?" Bogo held out an arm to stop McHorn from attacking again, hoping for some answers before more violence ensued. The hope was dashed when Higgins appeared at the top of the stairs and opened fire. Maria dashed for the open window, avoiding the darts that pierced the floor behind her as she disappeared through the frame.

"Damn it, Higgins!" Bogo yelled.

"WHAT?!" Higgins roared back, eyes blazing from the rock salt in his small wounds. "It'll be safer to question her once she's in cuffs!"

"He's right." McHorn said before Bogo could argue. "And after we interrogate her…" He grabbed Bogo's arm and pulled down the sleeve, exposing the collar. "I'll be asking you a few questions about this."

Seeing the angry disappointment in McHorn's face, Bogo simply nodded and guessed that the rhino had heard the collar beep at some point doing the attack. He was not looking forward to their conversation. "After we catch that jaguar!"

McHorn nodded. Bogo ordered Higgins to stay put while he and his old partner exited through the window and searched for Maria. Almost immediately they spotted footprints in the wet grass leading around the lodge.

The trail led them to the lodge's namesake: the famous chasm that nearly cleaved the mountain in two. The edge was ten feet from the lodge and protected by a wooden fence flimsy and weathered. While McHorn swept the area, Bogo spotted a wide gap in the fence. He stepped closer and realized that a small landslide had occurred some time in the past, forming a part of the cliff that wasn't as steep as the lethal sheer drop that made up the rest of the ravine. He shone his flashlight down, but didn't see any jaguars. He turned to see if McHorn had any luck- "Surprise, Motherfucker!" And once again found himself fighting to keep a knife from skewering his eyeball as Maria lunged at him out of nowhere. McHorn lay on the ground nearby, a dart protruding from his shoulder, unable to help Bogo a second time. Maria's leg hooked around Bogo's knee and pulled, dropping him to the grass with a hard thud that almost winded him. His head and shoulders hit nothing but air.

"Don't look down, Manny!" Maria taunted as she continued to force the knife down. In the midst of the violent struggle on the cliff edge Bogo managed to get one hoof down to his belt and grab his stun gun. He squeezed the button, heard the fizzle of the paralyzing spark, and jammed it into Maria's gut.

Maria shrieked in pain, spasmed for two seconds, and went completely berserk.

_-Oh shit, she must be on drugs-_

It was all Bogo could do to lash out with his arms and let them take the worst from Maria's claws as she flailed at his face, shrieking bloody murder. His body slid across the wet grass, inching further and further over the edge, and he was horrifically aware of both this and his complete helplessness to do anything but fend off the psychotic panther. "Mac, wake up!" He shouted right before he felt his weight start to take him the rest of the way over. Maria snapped out of her rage just in time to push herself off the buffalo and back to safety. He had no time for last thoughts before gravity took hold.


	23. Jack III

Jack couldn't help but smile at the look on Alyssa's face when he opened the large duffel bag, the cold Fall wind blowing at their form-fitting suits.

"No." The vixen breathed. "No way."

Jack pulled the frame out first, then the black and blue sails, enjoying her amazement. "Way." He said once everything was spread out on the floor of the helipad at sat at the summit of the Palm Hotel.

"Where the hell did you manage to hide this?" Alyssa glanced at the elevator door nearby, as if expecting someone to walk in at any minute and discover them.

"That, Miss Skyefall, will remain my secret." Jack had once clocked himself at twelve minutes, but tonight, with an arm still smarting from the cut a savage goat's horn had given him, it took him fifteen to assemble the hang glider.

"The Figaro Laminar." Jack told her after doing a quick check of the general apparatus.

"216 MRX." Alyssa finished for him, surprising the rabbit. "I learned to hang glide for this mission in Kazakhstag. I'd give details, but well, you know, classified. I can tell you it was an RX2."

Jack looked down at the frame. "How did you know what model this is? It hasn't been distributed to the public yet."

Alyssa scratched behind her ear. "A list of gear was in the intel I filched from you… which we already agreed to put behind us." She added quickly when she saw Jack's scowl.

The rabbit agreed to let it go and started setting up their tandem harnesses. Hang gliding was probably the only hobby he had outside of work, especially the maintenance. During that unpleasant period in which he had made absolutely no progress with his mission, he'd spent an entire day in the suite examining each and every component.

"Not that I'm scared of heights, but are you sure about this?" Alyssa asked as they turned the glider the right way up and aimed it in the direction of the Rainforest district. Jack had brought it along in case he'd need to infiltrate Slothfeld's hideout from above, but tonight his destination was the roof of a building in Savanna Central, just beyond the border between that district and Sahara Square.

Jack looked over the city skyline for signs of air traffic and saw nothing. "Ramses works for Swinton and the Triumvirate, who think I'm an agent of the Congressional Research Service. Now that he's seen my face, it's only a matter of time before they learn the truth and do something about it. We have to leave, now."

"But will it carry us both?" Alyssa asked.

"I have done this before you know." Jack said. _Once before, with an abducted general turned traitor._ He ran back into the suite, picked up the hang glider bag and put the suitcase full of gear in his hiding place. After Jack had assured himself that there was nothing in his stolen PDA that would blow Llater's cover, he'd contacted the llama and asked him to pick it up when he could. It wasn't ideal, but Jack's gun and crossbow were all he could take with him right now. He returned to the helipad with the weapons in tow. "I'll carry this. It'll even things out enough to make the trip safely. Put on your harness." He handed her the safety harness and she put it on quickly while Jack slipped on the harness that would attach him to Alyssa. He'd gone over the calculations in his head over and over until he was sure the weight was right. All that was left now was how Alyssa fared at steering. "You remember the target?"

"The roof of the Greener Grass Mall, yes." Alyssa said as she slipped into her leg harnesses. "The wind makes it the most convenient spot."

A minute later they were ready. Alyssa tested the wind one more time, but the direction hadn't changed. Jack didn't miss the irony of all this testing when neither of them were wearing helmets.

Suddenly Llater barked at him through his headset. _"Savage, you there?"_

"I'm here."

_"__Swinton knows who you are! She's sent TUSK to apprehend you! You need to check out of that hotel, oh, I don't know, NOW!"_

"Already on my way out the door, Llater. I'll call you when I'm safe."

Alyssa straightened, lifting Jack off his feet. Now he knew how the general had felt. "You ready?" She asked.

"As I'll ever be." Jack said. "Alyssa?"

"Yes?"

"No aerobatics. Please."

One short run off the edge of the helipad later and then the two mammals were airborne, suspended between the midnight colored fabric wings above and the gargantuan palm leaves below. The hang glider took them north west, propelled by the cold early morning wind as they soared unnoticed in the navy-blue sky. They crossed high over the nugget sized buildings and pinprick lights of the sandstone sprawl that was inner Sahara Square, then the desert dunes, casting all manner of shadows. Then they crossed the border, which from this height looked non-existent, and then they were over the concrete jungle of Savanna Central. Jack enjoyed the fantastic experience of having everything become smaller than him more than anything else hang gliding had to offer, but this time his thoughts were on sensation of the vixen's body pressed against his own. He'd almost lost her last night. He'd misunderstood Ramses' motives for being at the hotel and foolishly left Alyssa to deal with the ruthless ram alone. He never wanted to do that again.

He almost didn't hear Alyssa over the wind. "Honey just called! She got my warning and sealed the bunker! Ramses won't get in even if he finds the hatch!"

Jack looked ahead at the rapidly approaching rooftop of the Greener Grass Mall. "You'll need to start bringing us down!"  
"Yes, I know!" Alyssa was already beginning the descent. The roof expanded from a jagged pebble to a great flat landing strip. Jack raised his legs so Alyssa wouldn't trip, and a second later they touched down.

By then the navy-blue sky had lightened to a foggy grey. Jack and Alyssa worked quickly to disassemble the glider and tuck it into the bag, before sliding down a drainpipe to street level. As they were crossing the road toward the cheap cherry colored car Llater had provided for them Alyssa stopped and touched her headset. "What's up, Honey… good, good. Wait, what?" The vixen's eye widened. "Christ on a bike, we'll be right there."

"Is it Ramses?" Jack asked.

Alyssa shook her head. "I'll explain once we're in the car."

At the start of the long and windy drive to the Rainforest District, Alyssa quickly relayed what Honey had told her.

First, Ramses hadn't shown up at the bunker yet. Either he was biding his time or his boss had redirected him elsewhere.

Second, Nick Wilde had contacted her from her safehouse in Tundratown to inform her that Officer Judy Hopps had officially joined the fugitive dance cart and they were laying low until further notice.

Third, Gabriel Mossberg had caught his missing wife kidnapping the son of a crime lord.

Eager for details, they both leapt out the car as soon as they were outside the tree house hiding the bunker entrance, keeping their guns out in case Ramses decided to ambush them. They entered the dusty, disused house and opened the trapdoor. Alyssa touched her headset. "Honey, we're here. Open up."

A minute passed before the hatch unlocked. Jack jumped down first, hitting the floor and immediately spotting a downcast Mossberg sitting on a beanbag with Sherry on his lap. Alyssa closed the hatch, dropped down beside him and made a beeline for the badger sitting at the desk. "Would you mind explaining what the hell is going on? What's going on with Nick and that bunny?"

"Ask them yourself." Honey pointed to the microphone attached to the communication equipment connecting all her safehouses. Jack approached so he could better hear the conversation, ignoring the looks Honey and Gabe were giving him. It would seem that it would take more than nearly dying from anaphylaxis to prove he could be trusted.

"Nick, you there?" Alyssa spoke into the microphone.

_"__Alyssa?"_ They heard Nick's anxious voice. _"God, it's good to see you… er, maybe not see… you know what I mean!"_

"Settle down, Nick." Alyssa said soothingly. "Just slow down and tell me what's going on."

Nick explained everything from Gabe's successful rescue mission at Glacier Heights to TUSK's attempt to kill him and Finnick.

_"… __They pretty much admitted they were given orders to silence us." _Nick said bitterly. _"I suppose it's a step up from being killed just for being a predator."_

Jack blinked when he heard Judy Hopps' voice. _"That hasn't happened before, has it?!"_

_"__More often than you think, Carrots."_

Sherry's ear twitched. "Who's Carrots?" Gabe chuckled and explained it to her while the conversation continued.

_"__Anyway, that's when Carrots here showed up and tried to stop them." _Nick went on. Alyssa and Honey locked eyes in surprise. _"Crazy, I know."_

_"__No, it's not!"_ Judy snapped._ "Fugitive or not, I was not going to stand by and let them kill you for no good reason!"_

_"__Yes, you've made that very, very clear."_ Nick's words were mocking, but his tone was not. It wasn't often that an officer intervened on a predator's behalf, and it had never happened to a fox. _"Anyway, the razorbacks realized she'd heard what they said and tried to kill her too. That was when the Mag-Ryder turned into a mammal catapult."_

Honey put her face beside Alyssa's and growled into the microphone. "You are so, so, so _lucky_ that thing is waterproof!"

_"… __I said I was sorry."_

Alyssa tilted her head away from the angry badger. "You're not going to ask about Finnick?"

"I already told him Finnick escaped back into the sewer." Gabe said. "If I could fit down there I would have gone after him. Unfortunately we don't know where he's ended up but he should be fine. He knows the streets better than anyone else here."

"Right now I'd like to hear more about Starlight." Alyssa said.

Honey's expression toward Gabe was uncharacteristically somber. "You don't mind, do you?"  
"Go ahead." Gabe said, the tone alone making Jack anxious.

Honey spun her chair to face him and Alyssa directly. "As I said, Gabriel caught Starlight abducting Koslov's son, Morris after he helped Nick and Finnick escape. She got away with the kid when TUSK invaded."

"What in God's name would Slothfeld want with the son of a crime boss?" Jack asked. Everyone turned to stare at him. "What? We know Slothfeld's been experimenting with collars that inhibit free will. I think it's safe to say that he put Starlight up to this."

_"__That's what the new TAME collars do?"_ Nick sneered over the radio. _"I'd rather face the zapper."_

_"__Burrowing bounders. I'm sorry I ever trusted that pig." _Judy muttered.

Jack saw Gabe's face contort murderously and instinctively checked that his gun was in the holster. _So much for bringing Slothfeld back in one piece._

"What's the situation in Tundratown and Sahara Square?" Alyssa asked.

"Koslov and most of the goons in Glacier Heights got away, but he was hit by a dart and they were forced to leave his wife behind. Probably for the best, with that blow to the head. She's at the hospital now." Honey said. "As for the Palm Hotel, there were a few deaths but every mammal that turned savage was successfully captured. I don't know where they're being held yet, but that's not really important anyway."

Jack grimaced. He didn't wanted to think about the bloodbath now. "So now what? Do we wait here and wait for Ramses to show his wooly mug?" Alyssa asked.

Jack stepped in front of her so she could see his glare. "We do that, Slothfeld could be long gone by the time we finally get round to continuing the mission! When he finds out the ZIA are here he take all his research and vanish."

_"__I don't think he'll be going anywhere anytime soon."_ Nick said.

Jack paused, more intrigued that angered by the fox's calculation, and strode up to the microphone. "What makes you think that?"

_"__The data disk that contains all his data is still missing."_ Nick said.

Jack and Alyssa traded wide-eyed glances. "_That's right. The disk is everything to Slothfeld, so he won't leave without it. We still have time to capture him."_

"He's right." Gabe appeared beside them, holding Sherry with one arm. "I think it's time we returned to Founder's Mountain."

Jack was about to agree when something in Nick's words gave him pause. "Wait, who's we?"

_"__Carrots told me what happened to Ben."_ Nick said, his voice hard. _"I'm going to help you get him back."_

"I admire your dedication but it's too dangerous for a civilian, and a wanted one at that." Jack said.

_"__Oh, so I suppose you won't need my help to find the Data Disk, will you?"_

Jack's paw shot out and grabbed the microphone. "You know where it is?!"

_"__Correction. Carrots knows where it is. Second correction, I figured out most of it."_

Judy butted in. _"Third correction, you told me the disk was disguised as a Gazelle CD and Bogo had it and I figured it out from there."_

"Will the pair of you pack it in before one of you pops the question?!" Alyssa raged. "Where is the bloody disk?"

The response was a garbled result of Nick and Judy simultaneously chewing out Alyssa and then practically trampling over each other to give the answer first. _"In Captain Bogo's office."_ Judy eventually managed to get through to them. _"It's in the box of stuff the hospital took off Bogo when he was brought into the ER. No-one has touched the box so far as I know. I could go in there and get it and bring it to you."_

Jack's ear twitched at the curious huff from the vixen at his side. "You're not going to turn it in as evidence?"

Judy sighed. _"As much as I want to, I think turning the disk in will just help it get back into Slothfeld's hands. Even if the Red Queen hadn't warned me about TUSK, what happened at Glacier Heights pretty much convinced me that-" _

Alyssa bodily knocked Jack aside to grab the microphone herself. "What did you say?"

Judy's voice faltered at the ferocity in Alyssa's tone. _"E-excuse me?"_

"You said the Red Queen!" Alyssa said with bared teeth. "Who's calling themselves the Red Queen?"

_"__Uhhh… Cheryl Radames Ransome."_ Nick said warily. _"Red Queen is her nickname, you told us yourself." There was a long pause punctuated by a heavy sigh. "Don't bite my head off for saying this, but I think we both know who's behind the terrorist attack." _Nick said.

Alyssa cut him off fiercely. "No! Absolutely not! She wouldn't do something like this!"

Jack stepped up beside her. "Alyssa, I doubt Mossberg would normally carve up a caribou with a chainsaw, but he did." Alyssa silently seethed before the microphone, claws digging into the table. "I'm sorry but we have to consider the possibility that she's under Slothfeld's control as well."

Alyssa shook her head with a snarl. "That _bastard_…"  
Nick sounded sympathetic as he spoke. _"I recognized her voice on the phone. I'm sorry, Alyssa."_

Alyssa turned her back on the microphone and started pacing the room, eyes hard with anger. Sherry looked like she wanted to go over to the vixen, but Gabe gently held her in place and whispered for the cub to give her her space. Jack closed his eyes, thinking of all the ways Cheryl acting on Slothfeld's orders didn't make sense, but he didn't say them out loud. To suggest the alternative would just piss Alyssa off even more. For now, until he got all the facts, he would say nothing.

"Enough." He hadn't intended to sound so gentle. "Only three things matter right now. We need to find Slothfeld and put an end to this, Ramses could come here any second, and someone has to infiltrate Precinct One and get that disk back."

_"__Leave that to me."_ Judy said. _"I work directly under Bogo, so no-one will suspect me if I enter his office. I anyone asks, I'll tell them I didn't know Bogo was away. I may have to undergo questioning about what happened at Glacier Heights first, but they won't hold me for long."_

The only flaw Jack saw in that plan was the TUSK presence, but even that would be diminished with the ongoing hunt for Koslov. "You sure about that, Hopps?"

_"__I am. I want to stop Slothfeld as much as you do."_

Jack drummed his fingers on the table. "I guess there's nothing I can do to stop you. I'll call my contact, have them do what they can to keep TUSK off your tail. Mossberg, Alyssa and I will go after Slothfeld."

"I'll get the gear ready right away." Alyssa strode swiftly to Honey's weapons safe, her thick bushy tail swishing agitatedly side-to-side. Jack surmised that mentioning Cheryl again would be unwise at this time. The clicking of computer keys filled his ears; Honey was at her computer again, checking out the latest news. Gabe was explaining to Sherry that he would be going away for some time while checking that his kukris were still in the condition for slitting throats. Through the radio he could hear Nick and Judy starting to bicker about the pros and cons of following the rest of the team to Founder's Mountain.

Jack realized what he'd just called the motley group and snickered, incredulous at his situation. He'd started this mission as a solo agent and had expected to stay solo to the very end. He'd rarely partaken in missions as part of a team, and while they hadn't actively put him in danger they hadn't exactly treated him as an equal either. Then again his teammates back than had been seasoned agents who considered their careers a bit too daring for a mere bunny.

The mammals in this room and on the other end of the radio was not the kind of team he was used to. For one thing no higher power had picked and assembled them; they'd simply come together through simple circumstance and coincidence. But that hadn't stopped them from joining forces that night at the Arctic House, when Jack had needed an antidote and Nick's feline friend was attacked by a sniper. Even Bogo and his friends had gotten in on it, risking their lives to protect Benjamin from that homicidal grizzly.

_Heh, talk about promoting race relations. Still, I'd better make sure Miss Morton never finds out civilians are in on this or I'll never hear the end of it._

"Hey, guys." Honey spoke up, interrupting Jack's train of thought. "Swinton's doing a press conference outside the ZNN building tomorrow to talk about what happened at the Palm Hotel. They'll be sending Precinct One's best to protect her, so if the bunny is really going to go get that disk that's as good a time as any."

Alyssa only appeared to be half listening, if her sudden cantankerous shout was any indication. "Savage! Are you going to gear up or not?"

"Kind of hard to do when most of it is still hidden at the top of a giant palm tree!" Jack snapped back. Alyssa scoffed and returned to the contents of the safe.

"I'll get the hang glider from the car." He strode to the ladder and started climbing.

He soothed himself with gentle mutters on the way up, deliberating every possibility that could occur as a result of this unanticipated alliance. If this was going to be a team effort, it would be up to him to do his part as well… if he didn't die of stress first.


	24. Judy III

It was seven in the morning when Judy Hopps and her vulpine charge made it to Savanna Central. It was civil twilight, less than an hour away from full daylight, which meant it wouldn't be much longer before the streets became too busy to pass through unseen. She had to get Nick onto the gondolas before then.

"Hold up." She heard him before he felt his large paw on her shoulder. It kept surprising her that he always managed to touch her without his claws pricking her skin. "I've got an idea."

She turned round to see him looking up at a rusted green signpost, in particular the sign displaying 'Banyan Street.' "I think I know a way to get the rest of the way to the station without being seen."

"How?" Judy asked. She was familiar with that street, but it was off course from their planned route. She couldn't think of how it would be of any help to their journey.

"You'll see. It's a couple blocks from here, so you'd better keep u-" Judy was off before he could finish his sentence.

She crossed the road, turned a corner into an alley, "Wait!" Ignored Nick's shout, passed through a gap in a wooden fence and stepped out into a street that had seen better days. Some of the pavement was fractured like glass, overgrown weeds and grass protruding from the cracks. Ivy covered almost the entire wall of an abandoned factory building. Judy turned around as she walked, wary of potential unsavory characters lurking in the shadows, the knapsack carrying her vest, belt and foot covers tugging at her shoulders. It had been Honey's idea to temporarily discard the identifiable aspects of her uniform until she was closer to the Precinct, just in case there were still gangsters or TUSK officers lurking about. Judy had never imagined she'd been hiding from her own coworkers, but had accepted the suggestion without complaint. Even now the memory of those razorbacks aiming at her skull without hesitation or remorse made her feel a sense of shock.

Nick reached the street twenty seconds before she did, glaring at her as he panted, paws on his knees.

"And you were worried about me keeping up?" Judy asked.

Nick's collar beeped yellow as his glare deepened for a moment. It softened when he saw something behind her and straightened. He strode past Judy and approached the dirty and turquoise entrance to what the sign indicated what the Banyan Street Station, the rusty shutters sealed with a padlock and chains. "We can pass through here."

"Are you nuts?" Judy asked the instant she realized what the fox was planning. "The tunnels will still be in use. It's too dangerous!"

"I'm a pencil-neck. When I put myself to the wall the trains don't even graze me. Besides, they've shut down the transit system, remember."

"When? Don't?" Judy hissed the words. "You mean you've done this before?"

Nick smirked and reached for the shutters, leaving Judy to wish she had her lawbook right now, so she could check if that was even legal and then throw it at his head. The gaps in the shutters were too small for even her to squeeze through, but when Nick pulled he widened a gap just big enough for a male fox. He was through before she could stop him. "Get back here! I don't care if you've done this before, it's not safe! You could get hit! Electrocuted! What if you trip on the tracks?!"

"My face is all over the city, Carrots." Nick said. "I'm not going to be any safer sticking to the streets, am I? Are you coming or not?"

Judy gripped the bars of the shutter, staring at the darkened stairway behind Nick. This was so wrong. She had no idea how many more laws she'd be breaking just by stepping through that gap. She was already deep in it for not bringing Nick in when she had the chance. Then there was the danger. A month before she moved to Zootopia someone had electrocuted themselves on the rails and a picture had been leaked on Furbook. She and two siblings had had the misfortune of seeing that picture. Nick stared at her through the bars in a way that suggested he was studying her. Something that may have been sympathy flickered in his eyes, and he spoke with surprising softness. "Carrots, I know you don't really trust me. Part of me wishes I'd given you more reason to. But there's a ledge along the tunnel that's more than wide enough for you and me the walk on. It's relatively safe if you do what I tell you." He held a paw out through the gap. "The streets aren't safe anymore. Trust me on that, at least."

Judy breathed deeply through her twitching nose, and then she slowly accepted the paw, her fingers momentarily stiffening when they touched the rough paws on his fingertips. He guided her through, pushing carefully on her knapsack when it snagged on the rusted metal. "I have a quick question- when did you last get your tetanus shot?"

Judy saw his smile and rolled her eyes. "Ha, ha. Funny."

A short descent down the stairs later, Judy saw the tunnel and the ledge Nick had told her about, and felt just a little of her unease fade away. It was indeed wide enough for them to safely walk along without the train so much as grazing them. Nick stepped on first, followed by the bunny after a sage reminder to stick to the wall. Small, sickly yellow lights illuminated the way like dots on a map.

Judy heard the howling sound of wind seconds before it hit her like a rhino's gloved fist, her stomach flipping as she was knocked off her feet. Rough paw pads pressed into her skin when Nick grabbed her, pressing her to his body as the animalistic air tore at his clothes. The wind passed, its howl replacing by the incoming mechanical grow of an imminent train. Nick grabbed an insulated wall cable, keeping his other arm around Judy, and twenty seconds later the train was upon them. Judy screwed her eyes shut, unconsciously bunching her fists into the fox's shirt as the metal behemoth passed centimeters by their small bodies, the tremendous sound torture to her sensitive ears. The train disappeared as quickly as it arrived, and Judy opened her eyes when she could no longer feel its presence.

Nick was looking down at her, his face lightened by the yellow light right above them, his worried green eyes meeting hers. That concern seemed to soften his entire face, a far cry from the bitter anger he'd shown her the first few times they'd spoken. She could hear his heartbeat, quickened from the close call. This close to him she could smell his masculine musk. "You okay, Carrots?" He asked.

A week ago Judy would have asked him to let go of her immediately. Instead she asked, "What was that?" while she slowly and deeply breathed in his scent, blocking out the more repulsive smells of the tunnel.

"Finnick calls it the FPE. Fucking Piston Effect." Nick said after a long pause. "He added the F part because he got blown over every time he used the subway. That was before he got that van, obviously. I'm sorry, Carrots, I didn't think they would reopen the lines so soon."

"It's okay." Judy said, the corners of her mouth trying to twitch upwards in response to the humorous explanation. She looked down at the paws clutching Nick's shirt and let go, making him let go of her in turn. "They must've resumed services on the lines that don't go by the bombing site. You know, you haven't actually said where we're going yet."

Nick blew sharply and pointed down the tunnel. "We're heading for Citrus Avenue, about four blocks from Precinct One. You get out there, get the disk, then meet me at the bunker."

"What about you?"

"I still have a ways to go, but like I said, I have done this before." Nick looked at his watch. "Only two more hours until the press conference starts. We'd better keep moving."

Judy endured two more trains, each time holding tightly onto Nick to keep from being blown over, before they saw the distant, brighter white lights of the Citrus Avenue platform. Judy remained behind Nick as they walked, her eyes on the back of his head. Not long ago her eyes had been staring at that exact same spot while the rest of her was chasing him through the little streets of Little Rodentia, convinced that bringing him down would be the answer to all her problems. Now the thought of arresting him only occasionally crossed her mind, and even then it was to foil Radames' plans for the fox and put him under Captain Bogo's protection. Every time the undeniable truth of the Red Queen's words spewing from that phone would push down those thoughts.

TUSK tried to kill them. They'd fired a gun at her head. Their commander had slit her captain's throat. They wanted to hide the truth, so they tried to kill them. It wasn't worth the risk. The only way to protect them, Nick, Bogo, her parents and everyone else was to return to Precinct One alone.

They reached the platform, which mercifully was empty. "I guess this is me." Judy said reluctantly. Nick nodded. In the improved lighting his clothes were visibly stained from their trek in the tunnel. It would likely be even worse when she saw him again. "You still got your radio?"

"Yeah, you?"

Judy held up the device she'd borrowed from the Tundratown hideout. "Ten-Four."

Nick looked at her with that same concern he'd shown in the tunnel. "You sure about this?"

"Savage's contact confirmed that there's almost zero TUSK activity at Precinct One at the moment. I'll go in, face the music, get the disk and get out. Just like we planned."

Nick didn't look all that convinced, but nodded and started on his way to the other end of the platform.

Judy stopped by the restroom to clean her clothes as best as she could before returning to the surface. When her eyes had adjusted to the daylight she realized how quiet the street was and checked her watch. Twenty minutes left until Mayor Swinton's press conference outside the ZNN building. Everyone must be either inside watching their screens or heading to ZNN itself, her parents included. Except she could faintly recall that during the drive to the hideout her dad had kept complaining about the quality of their hotel room, which didn't even have a working television. Judy found a nearby signpost and saw that her path to City Hall, and by extension Precinct One, would take her almost directly past ZNN.

As she walked, she started to hear a commotion up ahead. Not violent, just the low buzz of many mammals talking at once. If Stu Hopps had been right about the hotel tv being broken, then he and Bonnie were certainly among those mammals. Judy felt guilty about avoiding them, but Radames had gotten them involved enough already.

The volume of the crowd had been the first clue of just how many mammals had come to the conference, but when she reached the street where the ZNN building was located she was stunned. There had to be hundreds of them, mammals of all kinds, all gathered to hear directly from Madam Mayor just how bad the situation was. Across the street from the building was a statue of Bartholomew Vue, the ox who founded the ZNN. She hopped onto the tall base to get a better look at the crowd.

The general tone of the illegible chatter indicated frustration and impatience, and a group of collared predators standing slightly away from the crowd were staring at the empty podium behind the line of officers and reporters with silent resentment. Judy didn't like the looks of this. She started searching the crowd for her parents. Just as Honey had predicted, there was a significant police presence here to stop any trouble before it started, but all the same she wanted her parents out of there. She reached for her phone, only to remember it being ruined by the fall into the river.

The reporters started shouting off questions when Mayor Swinton emerged from the ZNN building, followed by Commissioner Elba, Mr. Pottermass, Mr. Llamadeus and an elk that was presumably an assistant of sorts to the llama. Even from this distance, Judy could make out the red glint of her ruby brooch. The pig stepped onto the podium and behind the shrub of microphones, gesturing for the reporters to settle down. The crowd behind the reporters quieted down, but the tension was undeniable. Judy pulled her binoculars from the knapsack and kept looking for her mom and dad. She guess Swinton had brought Llamadeus onto the stage as a show of unity, but she had no idea how the pig convinced the ZBI to let her take one of the collared hostages. The amount of influence she seemed to have bordered on the ridiculous.

"Ladies and gentlemammals," She began, audible both through the microphone and Judy's rabbit ears. For the first time since meeting her Judy saw she wasn't smiling. Either it was because a smile would not be appropriate or because she had noticed the crowd's unrest. Likely both. In any case she began her introduction, but Judy was too worried about the crowd and her parents to listen. If she couldn't see them from here, they were likely at the front where they could better see the podium in spite of their small size. She dropped down from the statue and began to make her way around the edge of the crowd.

"You, ma'am." Judy heard Swinton say.

"What can you tell us about the incident at the Palm Hotel?" A reporter asked. Judy couldn't see which one. "Is it true that Peter Bisoniing instigated that incident after turning savage?"

Horrified murmurs rippled through the crowd, even from those that hadn't seen the news the night before.

"Yes, it is true." Swinton admitted, likely because she had no way of covering it up.

"How?" The same reporter pressed. "Was the cause biological or was it a result of wearing one of the collars?"

"We have yet to identify what caused his outburst." Swinton said calmly. "All we know is that Bisoniing and several other mammals reacted violently to the ZBI's efforts to confine them to the hotel, which I must stress was for their own safety."

"Why haven't the collars been removed already?" A different voice asked. By then Judy had caught sight of the podium. Swinton's attending was on the reporters, as was nearly everyone else on the podium. Elba, however, was scanning the crowd, his eyes stopping every now and then on the group of predators that had inched closer to the front of the crowd.

"Several attempts have been made to remove the collars." Swinton explained. "The scanners failed to work, but the real issue is the explosive device discovered in several of the collars. They will very likely blow if any attempt if made to remove the collars."

There were gasps, murmurs, and accusations of incompetence in response to this. "Are predators responsible for this?" Another reporter asked.

"Considering the context of the attack, it is very likely." Swinton said. The aura coming from the predators went from resentful to hostile in an instant. Judy felt terror and relief when she finally saw her parents, arms intertwined as they anxiously watched the mayor speak. She had to step over a group of shrews, apologizing profusely all the while, to get to them.

"Mom, dad!" She whispered, startling them before they recognized her.

"Judy!" Stu exclaimed with a paw over his heart. "Sweetheart, what are you doing here?"  
"Getting you and mom out of here!" Judy grabbed his paw.

Stu started to speak, but was cut off by one of the reporters. "Have the terrorists made any demands?"

"They have not made any demands yet, but no matter what they want, I assure you we do not negotiate with terrorists." Swinton said. "Are there any other-"

"BULLSHIT!"

The shout made the mammals on the podium sharply turn their heads in time to see Dawn Bellwether burst through the doors to the building, the collar around her neck a blazing yellow. Two officers ran out behind her, stopping short when they saw hundreds of eyes upon them.

Bellwether pointed a shaking hoof at Swinton. "You're a filthy liar, Swinton! The terrorists did make demands! Last night, just before everything at the hotel went to hell! Tell them what they want!"

Swinton didn't smile but her face was as cool as a pretty pond hiding parasites. She gave Elba a look, and he in turn raised an arm to stop the two officers from seizing the ewe. "That's a heavy allegation, Bellwether. Why don't you go back inside and clear your head?"

"Clear my head?" Bellwether echoed incredulously. "Why don't you clear that smug look off your face and tell the truth?"

"What truth? In case you haven't noticed we're in the middle of a very important press conference. I find that a more, if you'll pardon the pun, pressing matter than standing here and letting you spit groundless accusations at me."

Bellwether laughed, her collar beeping threateningly, but the warning went ignored. "You think everything that pops into your head is pure gold! But most of it is shit, just like the shit your father and grandfather came up with! No wonder Roarcadia went to hell!"

Swinton crossed her arms, disregarding the agitated noises of the crowd. Elba paid more attention, looking as worried as Judy was. "Are you done?"

"Not by a long shot, you porky bitch!" Bellwether shouted and stepped closer to the mayor.

Elba stepped between them. "That's enough, Miss Bellwether. Go back inside before you set your collar off."

"You just can't get past Carlton, can you?" Swinton asked.

"Let me ask a question; has the TUSK Commander you appointed been apprehended yet?"

"Not yet." Swinton answered evenly. By then the reporters had stopping firing questions to record the confrontation in their notepads. Judy herself mentally noted that the mayor had not seemed surprised by her rival's interruption.

"You wanted him to become Chief of Precinct One, but he couldn't even _murder_ someone right!" Bellwether sneered and advanced another step. "You're not as smart as you think you are, so why don't you wise up and tell these people the truth!"

Swinton slowly blinked. "I understand your resentment, but it's not my fault Carlton got torn to pieces."

Every tuft of wool on Bellwether's body seemed to bristle. Her collar flashed red. Judy gasped and started toward the podium, causing Llamadeus to spot her. "You can't keep shirking responsibility forever, so shove your ego up your butt, tell us what the terrorists want, AND STOP TRYING TO CHANGE THE FLUFFING SUBJECT!"

She barely got to finish her sentence before her collar turned blue.

Bellwether cried out and grabbed her neck before she started to convulse. Elba was the first to act, pulling out his dart gun and putting her down before Llamadeus had fully fled the podium. "Call an ambulance and get her out of here!" He barked at the two officers, and they moved to guard the unconscious ewe as one of them talked into his radio.

"Good golly." Stu breathed, arms tight around his shaken wife. Judy turned away from the podium and started to usher them away from the crowd.

A piece of brick flew from the direction of the predator group, striking Pottermass below the ear. Elba was between Swinton and the crowd in an instant, ordering his officers to get the mayor and her allies back inside the ZNN building. Other officers advanced on the group of predators, searching for the attacker, while the crowd started pushing and cursing in response to the officers trying to make them get out the way. Judy grabbed her parents so she wouldn't lose them in the forest of legs.

"Mayor Swinton, please wait!" The reporters kicked off with a barrage of questions, the same question in numerous variations: "Was Miss Bellwether right about the terrorists' demands having already been made?"

"That is utter and complete garbage!" Pottermass shouted, clutching his bleeding head as an officer dragged him toward the building. Llamadeus was the last to begin withdrawing, never taking his eyes off Judy.

The sight of the retreating leaders drew the crowd out of their quiet shock, and they started toward the line of officers. "Hey, you can't just leave!" Someone shouted.

"What about my wife?" Shouted someone else.

"Why are they doing this?" Shouted another.

Others demanded answers and others more raged at the predators that had joined the fray. Judy realized what was imminent and started shoving at her parents. "We shouldn't have come here." Bonnie's whimper was almost lost to everything else that was happening.

A second, larger piece of brick smashed into the dais, and all hell broke loose. "Who's the savages now, assholes?!" Judy heard someone roar as more rocks, bottles, garbage and other projectiles started flying overhead like birds, making the crowd scream and scatter. "Tell us the truth, bitch!" Other predators shouted "You bastards deserve this!" and "Those grass-chewers had it coming!" and "For the Red Queen!" and "Koobus Lupine fucking rocks!"

Some prey ran for their lives, but others grabbed whatever they could throw and started retaliating. Other mammals surged against the line of officers, straining to get close enough for their rocks and trash and reach Swinton and her fellows before they could reach the safety of the ZNN building. Not just predator, but prey were eager to make Swinton understand their feelings in their own violent way. Some predators broke through the line and charged at the tycoons, meeting resistance from other officers that managed to intercept them. Most of them. Judy could do nothing but watch as a lion barreled into Elba, knocking him from the podium and out of sight. Hundreds of voices screamed profanities, taunts and demands for answers as the other mammals at the podium disappeared inside ZNN and a crew of officers immediately blocked the entrance.

Judy rammed furiously at her parents. "Go, go, go!" Stu grabbed Bonnie and pulled out his fox taser, letting their daughter lead the way through the chaos. The older doe tripped over a rock on the way, which was quickly plucked by a bull and thrown toward the predators. A weasel came at them with a flick knife, but only managed to thrust once before Judy lashed out, knocking him out with a wild right hook. "We have to get to the precinct!" She yelled, shaking the pain from her paw before ripping off her knapsack and pulling out her dart gun. Circumstances and blind rage on the attackers' part forced her to dart two prey and a predator as she shepherded her family down the street. Bonnie shrieked at the sudden crash of a bottle exploding on the tarmac beside them, and Judy felt shards cut her on her and side of her calf. Someone grabbed the strap of Stu's overalls, but he jabbed him with the taser and kept going. Sirens squealed close by, signaling the arrival of the riot police.

Judy didn't see who threw the Molotov Cocktail, only heard smashing glass, the roar of the ensuing inferno, and her parents scream in terror. Heat seared her from behind, and she spun round to see a literal puddle of fire. Where were her parents? She saw no writhing shapes in the flames. Mammals running and brawling left and right forced her away from the fire, drawing her closer to panic. Eventually self-preservation forced her to turn and run.

The next thing Judy knew the bedlam was behind her. She had reached the bottom of a stairway leading up to a historical bridge overlooking the street. She looked around, hoping in vain to see her mom and dad, before clambering up the old steps. She ran across the bridge, hearing the battle intensify as the riot police closed in, running down the stairs at the other end of the bridge and finding herself in an empty, narrow road behind a line of buildings.

Her radio crackled._ "Nick! Nick, come in, over!"_

Judy recognized the voice. "Miss Ryder!"

_"That you, carrot cake? Please tell me you're not anywhere near the ZNN building."_ Judy stayed silent. _"Aw shit, where's Nick?!"_

_"Right here!"_ Judy's heart leapt when she heard Nick's voice as well. _"What the hell is happening? It sounds like a riot over there!"_

_"That's exactly what it sounds like! The conference didn't go the way the crowd wanted and everything went straight to shit! Nick, I want you in the bunker now!"_

"Hold up, Honey, where's Carrots?"

"Never mind Carrots!" Judy shouted into the radio. _"What about my parents?"_

_"Parents?"_

"My mom and dad were at the conference! I have to go back and find them!"

_"Hold your tractors, bumpkin, that's suicide!"_ Honey yelled._ "Give me a few minutes, I'll find out what happened to them."_

The line fell silent for a few seconds before Nick spoke. "_Where are you right now?"_

Judy sniffled and sat down on the curb, nursing her wounded leg as the adrenaline began to wear off. "I don't know. In this back street about a block from ZNN. That badger's really going to find them, right?"

_"She knows how much losing parents sucks, even as an adult. It's what losing your own parents as a kid will do to you."_

"That's awful."

_"You okay, Carrots? Sounds like you're hurt."_

"I'm fine." Her leg betrayed her by knocking the edge of the curb and drawing a groan of pain.

_"That agonized moan says otherwise. You can still walk, right?"_

Judy tested her leg by standing up and taking a few steps. "Yes."

_"Okay. I guess you don't need me to come get you."_

Before Judy could respond to that Honey cut in._ "You can ease up, bunny. A jam cam caught two bunnies matching your old folks' description getting arrested for tasing a riot cop. Probably not the news you wanted but at least they're safe."_

Judy sobbed into her arm. "Thank you… I don't remember giving you descriptions."

_"I dug up some info on you when you started stalking Nicky here. Just a little legal investigating to make sure you weren't working for the League of Alien Sheep Farmageddon."_

"Legal, that's good." Judy said, nodding. "Wait, Farma-what?"


	25. Elba III

The madness outside the ZNN building didn't fully dissipate until late afternoon, and by then Commissioner Elba had managed to extricate himself from the ambulance they'd summoned to the back of the skyscraper and make it back to Precinct One. Nursing a leg that hadn't stopped aching since he'd lost his cane in the riot, he listened and fumed as Chief Trunchbull grimly gave his report.

Miraculously the riot hadn't lasted long enough to take any lives, or spread beyond the streets surrounding the ZNN building. They had the swift response of the riot police to thank for that. Pottermass's naturally hard skull had saved him from a concussion, but not from half a dozen stitches from the blow from that brick fragment. The public had no love for the leader of the company distributing deficient TAME collars, it seemed. On the other hand, scores of mammals, predator and prey alike, had been injured in the chaos, and two of the ZNN hostages had succumbed to terror and triggered the blue lights of their collars. The ZBI officers had managed to incapacitate them in the nick of time and lock them up in an armored vehicle along with Bellwether. Llamadeus had reported spotting Officer Hopps in the crowd with her parents, only for her to disappear again when everything went to hell. As for the parents, they wound up being apprehended after the father tried tazed a riot officer in a wild panic, the paralyzing arc failing to penetrate the body armor. Both were currently sitting in a holding cell awaiting charges.

Riot officers found Judy hiding behind a cluster of trashcans in one of the alleys, with half her gear in a knapsack and a radio that wasn't police issued. The detectives were downstairs questioning her now.

"It's a mess." Trunchbull was turning his paperweight over and over in his hooves, staring at his desktop. "That conference was supposed to keep the public informed, not drive them to madness. What a goddamn mess."

Elba said nothing, letting the elephant vent.

"I blame Bellwether for this. If she hadn't been making such inflammatory accusations over the last few weeks, things might never have reached boiling point. We should have dealt with her sooner."

Elba nodded, watching the paperweight slowly spin.

"We should have had more officers watching her and those hostages, but they're too busy hunting for the fox and that cursed Koslov."

"Sounds like a change of plan is in order." Elba said, his calm voice disguising his black mood.

Trunchbull sighed. "I'm just happy you're alright, Commissioner."

"Thank you." Elba stopped massaging his leg. "And you have a point. For the time being, Precinct One will change its priorities. You will cease the hunt for Nicholas Wilde and focus on apprehending Koslov Polarnova."

Trunchbull stopped turning the paperweight and looked directly at Elba for the first time since the water buffalo had entered his office. "Don't we have enough TUSK officers on the turf war at the moment? Two thirds, at least?"

"Not to criticize their abilities, but that is not good enough." Elba's inner fury started to rise to the surface, hardening his tone. "Have you been reading the Meadowland Gazette up to now?"

"No. But I've been hearing the accusations."

"Then you know that Bellwether has been accusing us of being accountable for a lot of things, not just the death of Carlton Woolton. She feels that we could have discovered the terrorists' plans and stopped them preemptively, had we not been distracted by a turf war that we started."

Trunchbull rumbled indignantly. "Disgraceful. Actually, I meant to tell you we've discovered who's been giving Bellwether the ammunition to feed those ridiculous lies."

"Who? I didn't even know there was a leak."

"Neither did we, until just before the conference started, Llamadeus's PA was caught calling a number we discovered to be Dawn Bellwether's. He's the one who told her about the terrorists' demands."

"Why?" Elba asked out of reflex, not really expecting answers so soon.

"His son was one of the victims of the Iceberg Arch Pileup." Trunchbull said. "He survived, but the surgeries to repair the damage were costing the poor soul hundreds of thousands. Bellwether had been paying off the debts piece by piece in exchange for information." Trunchbull set the paperweight down on a folder. "He confessed that he also did it out of anger."

"Many betrayals are motivated by anger. What motivated this one?"

"Standard misplaced retribution. The lion whose collar malfunctioned died in that same accident, so the blame was shifted to someone else. After all, it was Swinton's father who introduced the TAME Collar laws."

Elba felt the pain in his leg suddenly intensify. Of course Theodore Goddamn Swinton had to be brought into this. "What does Llamadeus have to say about this?"

"I don't know. Last I saw him, Swinton was reading him the riot ac-" Trunchbull stopped, scowling at his poor choice of phrase. "I mean, she was busy tearing him a new one over not catching the leak sooner."

"She's still at ZNN?"

"No, in her office."

Elba stiffened in his seat. "Llamadeus is supposed to stay in ZNN with the other hostages."

Trunchbull weakly waved his arms in a display of helplessness. "I know. Somehow she managed to use Bisoniing's incident to convince the ZBI to continue to let her oversee Llamadeus's protection. He's staying in City Hall until they find a way to get his collar off."

Elba could understand her reasoning. With one member of the Triumverate gone, Swinton wouldn't want to risk losing another. "They'll still be up there, right? I want to speak to her again."

Trunchbull shrugged and pointed his trunk at the door. "Very well, sir. Be warned, she may not be in the mood for small talk."

Without his cane to ease his old wound, Elba had to suffer the embarrassment of chartering a squad car to make the twenty second drive around the park to City Hall. Before leaving the car, he ordered the driver to find him a new cane. "Get a metal one, wooden one, one from the lost and found, I frankly don't give a damn. Just make sure there's a cane waiting for me when I walk out of that building!"

He limped past the secretary without so much as a how-do-you-do, stopping outside the doors when he heard voices inside. Either the ass-chewing had long since passed or Trunchbull had been exaggerating. He pushed through just as the secretary was running over to stop him.

He paused, taking in the scene; Swinton behind her desk, Llamadeus and Pottermass sitting in plush chairs across from her, a bright red folder in the mayor's hooves. Swinton looked up, snapping the folder closed as she did so, and waved away the secretary before they could interfere. "Commissioner. I see you made it back in one piece."

"As did the three of you. I heard you discovered a leak in ZNN. Have you discussed it with Mr. Llamadeus, yet?"

Swinton glanced, merely glanced, at Llamadeus, but the long-necked llama cringed in his seat nonetheless. "I have. He knows full well what will become of him if it happens again. Not that it will, now that Bitchwether is no longer in her right mind." She finished the sentence with a smile.

Elba dug his fingers into the doorframe he was using to support himself. "Let me ask you a question. Why did you choose the ZNN building of all places to hold such a perilous press conference?"

"'Perilous,' he calls it." Swinton muttered. "You've got King Arthur on the brain again, haven't you?"

"Stop sounding like your father and answer the question!"

Swinton pushed the red folder into a desk drawer. "I don't understand the question. It was a press conference. Outside a News Network building. Do the math."

Elba tensed with frustration. She was doing it again. "That building was full of hostages, one of which is an emotionally unstable political figure who blames you for the death of her ex-boyfriend. You had to know she would kick off." He paused. Swinton was still smiling. "Do you have any idea how many mammals were injured today? It's a miracle no-one was killed!"

"I thought the ZBI would have it under control but evidently I was wrong."

Elba stepped further into the office and slammed the doors behind him, causing Llamadeus and Pottermass to flinch. "Her collar triggered because you wouldn't stop riling her up! Because of you, she may never be sane again!"

"Hey, hey, hey now, you can't pin this on her!" Llamadeus spun his chair around to point a scolding finger at the Commissioner.

"Easy, Llamadeus. You can get yourself back in my good books later." Swinton stood up and started to pace behind her desk, her smile becoming less pronounced. "I won't deny that we could have done more to stop that situation from getting out of control. But at the same time, Bellwether was a danger to the city."

Elba hesitated. "A danger? Is that what you think?"

"It is what I think. Blame me all you want, but I never asked Llamadeus to use the ZNN news to make inflammatory accusations. Accusations which I must add were purposely intended to incite unrest within a populace already on edge from savage attacks and collar accidents."

Elba fell silent, trying and failing to come up with a sufficient argument.

"Bellwether was right there to fan those flames." Pottermass waved his thick hoof at the city skyline behind Swinton. "We all knew she was a hindrance to our efforts restore peace. I hate to say it, but this is for the best."

Elba realized he was grounding his teeth by this point and stopped. The fact he was tightening his fists as well did not go unnoticed.

"Commissioner, what exactly is your problem?" Swinton asked coolly.

Elba considered not explaining at all, but the mature part of him insisted on knowing what was going on in Swinton's head. "The problem is that you're acting like having a riot occur in City Central is a good thing."

He expected Swinton's smile to slide right off her face. Instead it grew wider as her eyes suddenly brightened with a sudden idea. "You're right. It wasn't. Thank you for reminding me." With her hooves clasped together, she put the smile back on her face and turned to Llamadeus. "Louis, as soon as they give the all clear at ZNN, I want you to prepare tonight's report. Zootopia needs to know all about how Dawn Bellwether's inflammatory accusations against her political rival incited a riot right on your doorstep."

Llamadeus nodded quickly. "Consider it done, Mayor Swinton."

Swinton leaned against the desk. "Do it by phone. I don't want you leaving City Hall until this crisis is resolved. That goes to all three of you. That's it. Dismissed." He quickly strode past Elba, evading the Commissioner's burning glare, and left the office. Pottermass got up and went to do the same. He and Swinton both raised their eyebrows when Elba's hoof barred his way. The Commissioner leaned in but didn't whisper.

"Has she told you?"

Pottermass's expression didn't change. "Tell me what?"

Elba wrinkled his snout. "About Benjamin Clawhauser. The predator you borderline coerced into becoming your new servant."

"Oh, that. A shame what happened to him. Your safehouse wasn't as safe as you thought it was, was it?"

Having more infuriating thoughts on his mind, Elba ignored the jab. "I'm more concerned about why Cunninghorn would believe he could save himself by going after that boy."

"How would I know? That rhino's a madmammal, and a desperate one at that. Who knows what he's thinking?" Pottermass made a show of stroking his chin. "Maybe he wanted revenge on Clawhauser for screwing up his murder plot."

Elba made a decision and hoped it wasn't lethally stupid. "He mentioned taking Clawhauser to someone called Slothfeld."

Swinton blinked, her feelings of smug triumph over 'Bitchwether' almost visibly evaporating from her face and body. Pottermass looked even more shocked. "Cunninghorn really is crazy. Dr. Slothfeld has been dead for years."

Swinton glared molten daggers at Pottermass, but Elba beat her to the punch. "I never said he was a doctor."

He could see Pottermass starting to sweat. He'd seen the hippo's infamous 'blood' sweat once before, when he'd visited him and his wife at his mansion for police business one hot summer morning. Pottermass had taken to his typical morning routine of jogging back and forth at the bottom of the pool and leaving Meredith to explain in detail why it only looked like they had just suffered a violent domestic dispute; hippos naturally secreted a natural sunblock and antibiotic that changed from clear to a bloody red color due to pigments within the secretion.

With that in mind Elba decided to give Pottermass some important advice. "Go take a shower, before you start looking like a mass murderer."

As he watched Pottermass wipe his brow and leave, his thoughts began to focus on Meredith. He remembered her to be a refined middle-aged socialite, slightly spoiled but with a good heart. A long time ago she had been the heiress to the owner of Neomed Technologies, one of the businesses currently owned by Zoocell. That conversation by the poolside had been the last time he saw her alive.

When Elba turned back to Swinton, she was back behind her desk, hooves planted on the lustrous surface. "Swinton, it's time to tell me the truth."

Swinton lowered herself back into her chair and clasped her hooves before her face. Elba watched, and waited. Eventually she lowered her hooves and spoke. "What choice do I have?"

"Well?"

"You're right. Dr. Slothfeld is still alive."

"… why is he here, Swinton?" Elba asked, not willing to make any accusations without proof. But so help him if she had something to do with Starlight's abduction…

"He's the Chief Researcher for the development of the new TAME Collar."

"The collar the terrorists used on the hostages, right?"

Swinton glared at him. "We don't know that. He knows the consequences of betraying us. He wouldn't do something like this."

Elba hobbled up to the desk. "The day he 'died,' he was about to be arrested for developing weapons for terrorists!"

Swinton straightened in her chair, her pose becoming firmer and more commanding. "He was only wanted for questioning about the chemical weapons used in recent attacks in Boarland."

Elba leaned over the desk. "Unfortunately the Boarland authorities don't see it that way! At what point did it seem like a good idea to harbor a mammal whose name is listed on Ewerope's Most Wanted?"

Swinton seemed deep in thought, considering his words. Then, to Elba's bewilderment, she opened a desk drawer different from the one holding the red folder and pulled out a half-full bottle of red wine. A glass came next, which was swiftly filled to the brim and then drained in one go Swinton paused, her face flushed pinker than usual, and then refilled the glass. The sight caused Elba to reminisce of the time he'd caught Starlight, a cute little vixen at the time, sampling his Zoofaunia Merlot. After spitting it out all over his white carpet, she'd turned around, looked the large buffalo in the eye without a hint of fear, and informed him that someone had poisoned his fruit juice with battery acid. Four hundred dollars was the cost to replace the carpet, but it was worth it to have a memory he could smile at, even now as he confronted the most dangerous pig in the city.

"It wasn't your idea, was it?" Elba concluded quietly, watching the Mayor drink. "Who's was it, then? Your father's? Theodore was that desperate to save the family legacy?"

"He did what was necessary!" Swinton raged suddenly. "Times have changed! Shocking the savagery out of those predators isn't enough anymore!"

"He risked an international incident just for that?" Elba asked.

"The Eweropean Union has already turned against us, have you forgotten?" Swinton pointed at him with the neck of the bottle, its contents swishing within. "My family brought TAME Collars into the world. We ensured world peace. And how did the EU repay us ten years later? By abolishing collars in every country under their control just because of a few deaths!"

"Have you considered that they may have had a point?" Elba asked.

He was answered by a loud bang from the bottle being slammed on the desk. "And they lost it the moment they took the easy way out! This is how you deal with a disease! You create a vaccine and alter it each time the strain changes before it destroys everything you cherish!"

Elba rubbed his temple. "Now you really sound like your father."

"Don't-" Swinton stopped herself and finished her glass instead. She considered the wine left in the bottle before recorking it and putting it back in the drawer. "You say you want to help, but all you do is criticize everything my family has done. You have no idea what it means to be a Swinton."

"Tilda, you can stop right there. We're not going to see eye to eye on this." Elba exhaled through his nostrils and sat down on the chair formerly occupied by Llamadeus.

Swinton pushed her glass to the side of the desk. "And I accept that. So long as you can keep your mouth shut."

Elba suspected the consequences of saying no. Instead of risking his neck, he nodded. "Not to stoke the fire, but what makes you so sure Slothfeld isn't responsible for this?"

Swinton pointed to the ceiling, and Elba immediately understood. "They've been watching him for months. If he stepped out of line, they would have informed me by now."

Elba tried not to twist his face at the thought of the unethical operations going on right above his horned head. "What of Wilde and the other fugitives? Clawhauser?"

"No sign of them on the streets, or the tracking system. They're laying low, without their collars, but there is no way out the city. Your people are making sure of that. As for the cheetah, you had his collar removed before you took him to your secret safehouse. You never did explain why."

"The fact that Sedor found him the first time had me concerned." Elba said easily. "The tracking system may have been hacked."

"That is absolutely impossible." Swinton said. "We have the best security on the planet. Not even Anonymous can penetrate our defenses. Not without us knowing, at least. Are there any more questions?"

"Just one. Koslov's wife came around and told us someone kidnapped their son just as their hideout was raided. Should I reassign my detectives to investigate?"

Swinton's eyes narrowed in thought. "Do what you must, Commissioner."

The driver of the squad car had a cane ready and waiting when Elba limped out of City Hall ten minutes later, chestnut wood with an elegant spiral pattern. The Commissioner graciously thanked the driver before ordering him back to his desk. Elba let the cool air of early Fall and memories of walking through the forest near his first home with Starlight soothe his burning temperament as he made the relaxing stroll across the square. The moment he pushed through the glass revolving door of Precinct One, the receptionist informed him that Hopps was done being questioned and she was currently awaiting the return of Bogo and his other subordinates. Elba briefly debated going to find the officer who questioned her first, but gut instinct directed him to the West Office.

When he entered the West Office, he found every desk empty, and Hopps absent. Then he noticed the door to Bogo's office was open. He peered through the doorway, got a clear view of the desk, and saw Hopps halfway inside the cardboard box of the Captain's things. Elba was about to ask what she was doing when she suddenly gasped and pushed herself out. In her paws was a slightly dirty Gazelle CD.


	26. Nick IV

"You look like shit." Nick said. "You look like you got dragged through a field of rotten beets. You smell like you took a nosedive into a buffalo's cesspit. You're looking at me right now like you want to bite my face off and spit it out into that gutter over there. But I'm still glad to see you."

"And you look like a hobo elephant rear-ended you. So what?" Finnick asked.

Nick had found Finnick creeping under a parked truck two streets from the gondola platform, having had the same idea the bigger fox had, and now they were sitting on the slope beneath the wooden platform, out of sight of the mammals waiting for their turn. Nick stretched out on the smooth rock like he was sunbathing, even though the floor above their heads was blocking out the sunlight. Finding Finnick was like finding out Christmas was happening twice this year, and the fox couldn't keep the smile off his face.

"So I'm just glad to see you, is all." Nick said. "Where've you been the last few hours?"

"Hiding in the sewers. I didn't come out until I reached the system under Savanna Central." Finnick said with the demeanor of someone who had just traversed the Gluttony circle of hell. He sniffed his forearm and recoiled. "I never wanna fucking do that again."

"The shower at Honey's bunker should be free when we get there." Nick said.

"Brilliant." Finnick said. "And this time, we're gonna fucking stay put. Right. Fucking. Put."

"Language, Fin. There's kids up there."

"Speaking of up there, when're we picking up a ride back home?"

"It's that time of day when everyone starts coming home from work, Finnick. We should stay here until the crowd thins out."

Finnick's ears kept twitching in response to the footsteps and voices of the mammals above their heads. He scowled and sat up. "You hear that?"

Nick didn't bother getting up. "You know my ears aren't as ridiculously expansive as yours, buddy. Don't tell me it's the fuzz."

"Close. Shut up for a sec." Finnick said, his ears pricking. "They're talking about a riot."

Nick got up.

"Shit, yeah, I heard about that. Mayor Porkchop's press conference went bad. Really bad."

Nick felt his chest tighten as he spoke. Carrots had been injured the last time he'd heard from her. He strained his ears and focused his full attention on the voices above.

"… was killed, apparently…"

"… I saw it on the news, it was awful. Bellwether started going feral right on…"

"… you think the terrorists want…"

"… think I saw that bunny cop just before it all kicked…"

"Better there than here." Finnick muttered. Then he saw the look on Nick's face. "What? What did I say?"

"Don't break my nose, but we're meeting Carrots later." Nick felt a tiny, hard fist strike his arm and knock him on his side.

"MEETING CARROTS?! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MIND, SHE'S THE LAST THING WE NEED TO DEAL WITH!"

Nick pounced on Finnick and slapped a paw over his mouth. He stared up at the floorboards, but by some miracle, no-one appeared to have taken notice. "Keep your damn voice down, you idiot!"

Finnick growled "Fine." beneath Nick's paw, and he let the fennec go. "Let me repeat the question. Are you out of your fucking mind?"

"No! Maybe… I don't know!" Nick groaned.

Finnick put his paws together, closed his eyes and exhaled. "Then _why_?"

Nick looked away from him. "You'd just freak again."

"I won't…" Finnick trailed off under his breath, "… _make any promises._"

"Just keep the language and violence to a minimum." Nick said. "Me and Carrots are kinda working together."

Finnick's expression was initially blank. "Working together."

Nick nodded. "Yeah. She got hurt in the riot and I'm worried about her."

Finnick closed his eyes, lowered his head, and held his paws over his face. Nick inched away from him, waiting for the explosion.

"You're worried. About Carrots. The bunny cop. Who ruined our lives."

"Technically she didn't ruin our lives. Assistant Mayor Woolton did." Nick said. "I think an explanation is in order."

Finnick's head bobbed, his eyes still shut. "The highest order. Start talking, Nick."

When he was almost done explaining, Nick took it as a good sign that Finnick opened his eyes and not his mouth. "She went back to Precinct One to get the Vorpal Blade, I mean the Data Disk back. We're supposed to meet up later when she gets the disk."

"And you trust her?" Finnick asked slowly.

"Well, the Red Queen, Cheryl, seems to trust her." Nick said. "She roped Carrots into becoming the 'White Queen.'"

"What the hell is the White Queen?"

"Hell if I know."

"That didn't answer the question. Do you trust her?"  
"I dunno, maybe. If it wasn't for her those razorbacks would have killed us."

Finnick looked up at the platform, which had fallen silent now that the rush hour had passed. "You're certifiable, you know that? Let's get back to Honey's so I can yell at you some more."

It was nearly dusk when they reached the bunker, only for Finnick's request to be vehemently denied.

Honey pointed to the little crib near the bean bags where Sherry was napping. "If you wake the baby, I swear to God I'll…"

"Ok, ok, we get it. No yelling." Nick said. "Right, Fin?"

Finnick, arms crossed tightly and shoulders slightly shaking with rage, nodded wordlessly.

Honey threw her arms around the pair of them and squeezed. "Oh God, you have no idea how happy I am to see the two of you back here! I hate you so much for running off, but I'm too happy to kill you and killing you might wake Lance!"

Nick had to hold his breath until the badger released them, and even then the sensation of being crushed by a Boarmese Python didn't fade right away. "I know, I know how stupid it was and I'm sorry."

"Me too, you little sheepstalker." Finnick groaned, his voice tight from lack of air.

Honey let him drop to the floor. "I just learned the riot ended about three hours ago. I'll give the fuzz credit for one thing, they know what they're doing when it comes to emergencies."

"What about Carrots?"

"She's okay. The scanner reported them finding her and taking her back to the station. No word on her coming out yet."

Nick looked around to see a second computer Honey had set up so she could watch her hidden security cameras twenty-four seven, and three absent spies. "So. They're off to see the wizard now, are they?"

"Wizard?" Finnick asked.

Nick patted Finnick's back, nudging him toward Honey. "I'll take first shower while Honey explains."

"There's a change of clothes waiting for you two in that box." Honey said, just as the radios on her belt and in Nick's pocket crackled. _"Nick! Ryder? Are you there?"_

"Shit, it's her!" Nick grabbed his radio. "Carrots, are you okay?"

"Did you get the disk?" Honey asked.

_"__Will you please stop calling me Carrots? Are you going to let me in or what?"_

"Let you in? What're ya talking about? We still need to arrange where you're going to drop off the disk." Nick said. Honey's eyes widened and she raced over to the second computer.

_"__Well, I've already found Ryder's rainforest hideout."_

"HOW DID SHE FIND MY HIDEOUT?!" Honey roared from the second computer, her yell punctuated by the shrill cries of the startled baby Lance. Sherry took a little longer to wake.

_"__What's that noise? Is that a baby?"_ Judy's voice took on a suspicious tone.

"Honey's freaking out over you finding her hideout and her freaking out woke the baby." Nick said casually, even as his face turned upward to the sealed hatch above them, his mind almost completely blown. "How did you find this place?"

_"__Hey, I'm a good enough cop to-"_

"Never mind, just get in here before you lead that ramhole right to us."

_"__Ramwho?"_

Nick hesitated and cursed his stupidity in not warning her about Doug. "Just get in here!"

Nick climbed up the ladder, ignoring Finnick's profanity-ridden protests, spun the handle and pushed. The first thing he saw was Judy's awe-struck face, a band-aid under one big lavender eye. "What've you got down there, a submarine?"

Nick chuckled. "I wish."

When they were both inside, Judy's ears flattened from Lance's crying. Sherry was curled up on a beanbag with her paws over her ears. Finnick, on the other hand, was resorting to crawling underneath one.

Judy turned on the spot, taking in her peculiar new surroundings until Honey materialized before the bunny with her paws on her hips, greeting her with the aura of a saber-toothed tiger. "Let's get one thing straight, fluff-butt. If I catch even one whiff of back-up coming to raid this place, I'll make you suffer to your last-"

"This is what you wanted, right?" Judy held up a CD case bearing the image of Gazelle in the peacock feather gown she'd worn one Christmas Eve. Honey froze, staring at the CD like it was the Philosopher's Stone, then took the case and opened it. Both she and Nick eyed the unmarked, shiny blue disk within. "I checked it out on Commissioner Elba's computer to make sure it was the right one, but it appears to be decrypted. Do you think you could, you know, work some technical magic?"

Honey nodded humbly. "I'll see what I can do."

She turned and sat down at her desk, hunching over as thought the insistent screaming of the cub was physically hurting her.

"I'm not an advocate for hitting kids…" Finnick growled from beneath the bean bug. "But will someone _please_ _SHUT HIM UP_!"

Nick walked over and dragged the little fox out, his nose twitching agitatedly at the stench emanating off him. There was no telling how bad he himself smelled, even after a not-so-refreshing dip in the Tundratown river.

"I'm going in the shower." He said to everyone and no-one, disappearing into the little cubicle.

Nick didn't begin washing out the subway stench right away. The water was running hard enough to drown out everything else, so he lingered in the warn downpour and mulled.

If his misadventures after the rise and fall of Wild Times were ludicrous up until now, it was perhaps even more ludicrous that as they had travelled from the Tundratown Safehouse to Savanna Central, he had begun to feel drawn to his rabbit companion. The part of him hardened by years of living on the edge of the law had urged him not to keep her close, that he had good cause to hate her. Yet recent events had long since taught him that Wild Times had been a mistake, and Judy had made amends several times over. It also felt good to meet a cop he could trust not to beat him bloody just for putting his paw in his pocket.

When he turned the shower off, he didn't notice right away that the cries had stopped, only noticing when he pulled on his clothes and returned to find little Lance in Judy's arms. The oversized furry bundle was sleeping, sedated by the soft tunes coming from the rabbit's mouth.

"What're you doing?" Nick asked.

Judy shushed him, managing to mask the sound as part of the tune. Eventually she stopped to make sure the baby was sound asleep, and then lowered him back into the crib. Finnick and Sherry were sitting on different bean bags, staring at the rabbit, while Honey appeared to be too engrossed in decoding the Data Disk to even notice the baby had stopped crying. Judy gazed down at the baby with a look Nick had never before seen a prey mammal give a child with fangs and claws before dusting her paws and turning to Nick apologetically. "When a third of your siblings are ten and under, you learn how to handle them. I'm sorry if I overstepped my bounds."

"I-I'm sure Gabe won't mind." Nick didn't know why he stammered.

"Who's Gabe?"

"That is on a need to know basis!" Honey called from the desk.

"Oh, you're talking about that feline from the Arctic House."

"And of course the great Sherlock Hopps figures it out anyway!" Nick threw his arms up and then threw the rest of his body into another bean bag. "Have a seat, Carrots, this is gonna take a while."

Judy sat down on the last remaining beanbag, watching Honey's back as she worked. She had the same intense look she had when she had questioned Nick about his suspicious parking lot.

"Damn it!" The badger suddenly punched the desk and spun round in her chair. "I was hoping it'd be an easy fix, but I've never seen an algorithm like this! If I had the decryption key I could crack this thing, but I've got nothing to work with! I don't even know if I need a cypher or a plain old password!"

"Calm down, Honey." Nick said. "How long will it take you to decrypt it without the decryption key or whatever you crypto-geeks call it?"

"Years, if I can even decrypt it at all!"

"Fu- fudge that!" Finnick said with a quick glance at Sherry. "Just wait for Alyssa and her super spy posse to bring Slothfeld back and then we can wring the password out of him!" He bristled when he saw the dark look Judy was giving him. "What? You gonna book me for beating on a psycho who deserves far worse? If you've got something to say, say it!"

Finnick must have interpreted the rabbit's expression as disapproval, but Nick saw something else. Trepidation. Hers was the face of someone who had heard some very bad news, and it worried him. "Carrots? What is it?"

"We may not have time to wait." Judy said, her voice small but steady. "Commissioner Elba caught me taking the disk back at Precinct One, but instead of arresting me he gave me some news. Cheryl, I mean, the Red Queen gave her demands to Swinton a little before the press conference. She's been hiding it from the ZBI to avoid being put under investigation herself."

"And?" Honey asked. "Come on, spit it out! What does Cheryl want?"

"The truth."

"Truth?"

Judy was stock still at this point, relaying the information like she was speaking at a witness stand. "The truth behind the savage attacks. The truth behind the death of Assistant Mayor Woolton. The truth behind the Liberum attack in Roarcadia. She wants Mayor Swinton to confess everything."

"Yeah, like that's ever going to happen." Finnick grumbled.

"That's why the commissioner told me everything." Judy said. "He's convinced that Swinton won't give in until it's too late."  
"Too late?" Nick felt an icy pit in his stomach. "What happens if Swinton doesn't admit the truth?"

"Cheryl will remotely trigger all the hostages' collars, and then disperse the serum into the city's water supply." Judy's voice turned slightly shaky. "Swinton has until midnight, on the anniversary of the implementation of the first TAME Collar Law."

Honey turned to her computer and quickly Zoogled the date. "That's only four days from now!"

"And we can't access the fudging data!" Finnick groaned.

"I gotta call Alyssa. She needs to know about this." Honey strode over to her radio.

"You'll need to tell them that Bogo, McHorn and Higgins are up there, too." Judy said. "Elba sent them to Founder's Mountain to find information on Sedor and Slothfeld."

Finnick sighed and draped himself over the beanbag. "Oh, this just keeps getting better and better!"

Honey was cursing under her breath as she worked, up until she got through to Alyssa's headset. Nick motioned for the others to keep their voices down.

"How long do you think it would take to find Slothfeld and bring him back?" Judy asked.

Nick thought about it. "It took about an hour, maybe two, to get to the sawmill from the edge of the city. But we already know Slothfeld's not there. There's a lodge and an asylum further up, but it would probably take more than a day, maybe two, to search both those places and get back down the mountain."

"Yeah, I've heard of the asylum. It's a big building with tons of rooms." Finnick said. "And with only three of them, six if you're counting the bunny's buddies, there's no… there's no freakin' way. They'll never find him and get the key in time."

Sherry popped up in the middle of the group, interrupting the tense silence. "Why don't we go up there and help them find him?"

Nick patted the girl's shoulder. "That's a great idea, except Gabe and the others won't want our help."

Sherry pouted, her expression looking very much like Judy's. "And why not?"

"Because we're not badbutts."

"The word is badass, and you are badasses. Especially you two." Sherry pointed at Nick and Judy. "You took on a bad ram and a giant skeleton bird monster to save Benji."

"It wasn't a skeleton bird thingy, it was a bear in a costume." Judy said, momentarily smiling at the little girl. "But she does have a point. I need to go up there and find Bogo."

"Bumpkin, no offense, but this is why you got read the riot act after Little Rodentia." Finnick said. "You don't even know where to start looking for them."

"Elba said they were heading to the lodge last he heard from them."

Nick held a paw up. "Carrots, you've just been to hell and back. You're hurt for Christ's sakes."

"They're just scratches. They don't even hurt anymore."

"And when was the last time you got any sleep?"

"That's irreleva-"

"It's totally relevant, and exactly what Cheryl was talking about. You need to start thinking things through more often, Carrots." He paused at the scandalized look on her face. "Look, just do yourself a favor and get some rest before you head out. It'll be easier to get out the city in the dead of night anyway."

Judy seemed torn, but before she could make her decision, Honey set down her headset and turned to the others. "Alyssa said to keep the disk here and stay put. It's too dangerous to go after them."

"What's their situation?" Judy asked.

"Almost to the lodge."

"After all this time?"

"They had to take a detour through the city. Because of that riot, they've bumped up the fuzz traffic in every district. They double-checked the sawmill first and reckon someone else was there recently. Probably the bunny's friends looking for evidence."

"Any sign of Benji?" Finnick asked, ears perking. Nick's ears perked as well.

Honey's own ears fell flat. "Sorry."

Nick caught the sympathetic look Judy was giving him and looked away. "I'm going to contact some friends, see if there's anyone who can help me decode this disk."

She returned to the computer and started typing. Nick walked over to her and looked over her shoulder at the screen. Whatever interface she was using, if it even was an interface, looked far from user-friendly. If Benjamin was here, he would be up all night asking her how this worked and that worked, but he wasn't. Nick hadn't seen him since the Arctic House Incident. Benjamin had always been the goody-two-paws sort, always avoiding a fight, always cowering at the side when a fight started. The night Nick had last seen Benjamin had been the night he stopped cowering and shot a murderous giant bear with a big fucking gun. Yet Nick was still cowering, right here in an underground bunker, letting other mammals solve his problems while Benjamin was somewhere on that mountain at the mercy of a dirty cop. Then there were those mysterious psychos that had killed those TUSKs and Mr. Big's drug manufacturers, and nearly killed Agent Savage as well.

"Honey, do you really think you and these friends can crack this thing?" He asked.

"I've got a couple who I won't name who eat algorithms for breakfast. It's definitely doable." Honey said, getting back a little of that conspiracy-theory-overconfidence.

"So you think you'll be able to crack this thing, expose the conspiracy, and take down all those assholes out to kill us, before they finally track us down and kill us?"

"Realistically?"

"Yes, realistically."

He saw Honey's throat move as she swallowed. "I don't."

Nick moved away from Honey and started looking for some booze. Six hours. He'd get some sleep and give it six hours. Whatever happens then would make the difference between him doing the smart thing or the crazy thing.


	27. Bogo IV

After surviving a slit throat, a tusk through the torso, and now a hundred foot tumble down the notorious ravine on Founder's Mountain, Bogo was starting to think there was a guardian angel somewhere with a twisted idea of guarding him.

To be fair, he'd only tumbled a quarter of the way down the mountain, coming to a stop at an area of the cliff that was almost flat. It was thanks to his coat that he suffered more bruises than lacerations, the cut on his arm inflicted by that jaguar didn't count, and his naturally tough bulk had protected him from broken bones. Lack of a head injury had suggested to him that it was the shock of the fall that had knocked him out. In any case, he'd gotten lucky. Again. Unless you counted being separated from your team in an incredibly dangerous environment as lucky. Then again he'd insisted on coming here.

He'd woken up to Higgins' frantic voice blaring at him from his radio, which like its wearer had survived the fall. He'd responded blearily, assuring the hippo that he was alright, and then asked about McHorn. The rhino had been sedated, stabbed in the neck with his own tranq dart. Bogo and Higgins had shared the theory that Maria Manchas had had far more insidious plans for McHorn than simply killing him. Higgins had then reported on his own condition; he was sore from the shotgun trap, with ribs almost certainly broken, but he still had his gun and he was confident that he could guard McHorn until he awakened.

_"__Are you safe right now?"_ Higgins had asked.

Bogo had taken a quick look around. The rest of the way down was a gravelly looking slope formed from a suspected landslide. "I don't think so. I need to get off this cliffside before it collapses again. I should be able to get the rest of the way down."

Higgins hadn't answered at first. _"I don't know about that, Captain."_

"You got any better suggestions?" Bogo had asked rather harshly. He'd expected for Higgins to either fall silent or give a better suggestion. Instead the radio had suddenly begun to hiss loudly, any response the hippo may have given going unheard. What followed had been an unpleasant few minutes, consisting of Bogo speaking into and fiddling with the radio before realizing the signal was being hopelessly jammed, then listening for signs of a scuffle up above. He'd heard nothing, but he'd witnessed first-hand that Maria was a prodigious and remorseless ambush predator. He'd called for Higgins, and there had been no answer. He'd pulled out the satellite phone out of desperation, but it had not been as fortunate as his radio.

The collar on his wrist, of course, had survived.

The cliff above was too steep for him, so going down was the only other option. It was times like this that he'd felt pride at being the ace of the Police Academy's infamous obstacle course. As he'd descended, he'd thought about travelling along the ravine in the hopes of getting out of the jammer's range so he could call for help, and that was when he'd remembered the mine McHorn had told him about. It could be the key to getting out of the ravine. It was risky, especially if the mine was as decrepit as he'd imagined, but that voice in his head urging him to play it safe had offered no better alternatives.

And so, after reaching the bottom of the ravine with little trouble and dressing his cut with the small roll of gauze he kept in his belt, he'd walked, aching from bruises all over his body, the sound of the river travelling alongside him soothing to his blade-shaped ears. It was colder down here than it was above the ravine, forcing him to put on the gloves Kathryn had bought him two Winters ago and making him thankful he'd along the flat boots. Every now and then he'd check the radio, only to hear that same interfering hiss. Every now and then he'd look up at the sky to make sure the weather wasn't about to turn nasty, and once he'd seen what may have been a bat flying overhead. His fear for McHorn, Higgins, and Benjamin had grown by the hour.

The first part of the mine he saw was the metal structure stretching all the way across the upper part of the ravine like a rollercoaster track, rusted into shades of orange, brown and black. The beams were thick, like the mosaic-like frame that supported the glass dome overlooking the Precinct One lobby, and that made Bogo more confident above his chances of escaping. As he walked closer, he saw that a small dam had been built over the river almost right beneath the track, presumably to reduce the chances of the water level rising to reach the metal structures and rust them until they were dangerously unstable. Nearby that dam was a ladder fixed to a platform built halfway up the cliff and connected to the track. "Perfect." Bogo muttered, striding to the ladder and testing the rungs. They didn't budge, even when he tugged hard enough to yank McHorn off his feet. He climbed slowly, carefully, sighing in relief when he reached the top of the ladder. He tried the radio again. The random noise was gone, so at least he was finally out of the jammer's range. He called for Higgins, but received no answer.

He examined the track. One end of the track disappeared into a tunnel within the cliff side he needed to be on, but the tunnel was boarded up. Even if he could pull off the boards, there was guarantee he wouldn't get lost in there. The other end, the mountain side, also led into a sealed tunnel, but there was also a metal staircase that zigzagged up into a large wooden building built by the edge of the cliff. Bogo pulled out his gun, just in case, and began his ascent once more. He stopped mid-way up the stairs when he saw spots of blood, too red to be old. Someone else had come up these stairs. By the time he reached the top, Bogo was missing the Precinct One elevator. The stairs had brought him inside what looked to be some kind of mess hall. He saw more blood on the floorboards at the top of the stairs, and a print on one of the tables. It was large, consisting of two fingers and a thumb. Having worked with rhinos since joining the force, Bogo immediately thought of McHorn, but that was improbable. That left either a complete stranger, or the stubby-horned prick that took Ben.

Bogo raised his gun and swept the neglected room. Vegetation was poking through the windows and between the boards in the walls, but no other organic life. Bogo felt exhilaration as he spotted the exit and went to it. Could they really be here? And whose blood exactly was it that made that print?

God have mercy on Cunninghorn's soul if it wasn't his own.

He froze, hoof partially wrapped around the handle, when he heard voices coming from the other side. They were too faint to be close to the door. Bogo spied a boarded up window beside the door with gaps big enough to peek through.

He looked out into what looked like a small industrial town, with wide dirt roads and large wooden buildings. On the other side of the street, nearby a jeep that in this place was a modern anachronism, was a dark figure.

_Oh, bollocks._

He immediately recognized the massive form of Sedor Valentino with long coat, wide brimmed hat and plague doctor mask, leaning against the wall beside a set of doors with twisted handles. He kept looking inside the building. Bogo pulled out his binoculars and looked through the open doors into the interior of the building. He saw an empty camp that was as out of place as the jeep, and beyond that, an elevator shaft.

Bogo considered his weapon, remembering the firepower Sedor had endured back at the Arctic House. They had theorized that the massive bear was wearing some sort of body armor, even on his head, which their best explanation for how he had survived that crossbow bolt, the shooter of which they had never found. The buffalo shook his head, mentally advising himself against it. "You're going to need a bigger gun."

The growl on a vehicle engine turned his attention back to the gap in the window boards. The jeep was still immobile- instead a dual-sport motorcycle glided into view, carrying two felines. He could tell they were big cats by their body shape and their long, thin tails. He recognized the driver, Maria Manchas, by her ghoulish mask. The passenger was slightly bigger, wearing a black jacket that looked like it was made from fake alligator skin and a red ski mask. Bogo peered at them, intrigued. The black clothing and masks they had in common indicated a uniform. These mammals were organized, and the way Sedor straightened, taking on an assertive posture, suggested an hierarchy. They were violently insane, with a radical hatred of police officers. Bogo put it all together, sure that he had just found their terrorists.

"It's done, Sedor." Maria said, not looking as submissive as her companion. "The wolves have activated the jammer. Now those ZPDicks can't call for backup." Sedor said nothing, prompting her to add. "But before that I sent the message like you wanted me to, so we're good there. Oh, and we caught the hippo and rhino a couple of hours ago. We're keeping them in the asylum for now." Sedor cocked his head. Maria seemed to interpret this as questioning why the officers were still alive. "I thought that after we find the third, we could have a little fun. No use just lazing around while the Red Queen and those rodents do all the work."

Bogo felt his body tense. His only comfort was that McHorn and Higgins were still alive.

Sedor nodded wordlessly. Bogo wondered why none of them had removed their masks. He growled, a guttural rumble that made Bogo stiffen with primal fear, especially when he saw the aged bone shears in his paw, the closed blades as long as a rapier. He made a slashing motion with the blades. Bogo gasped softly.

Instead of collapsing in a pool of blood, Maria nodded and gave a slight wave. "Wait here in case Bogo shows up and then do what I want with him, got it."

"Speaking of work, how are the repairs coming along?"

Sedor pointed through the doors. Bogo took another look through the binoculars. His eyebrows raised. The first time he hadn't focus on the elevator shaft leading down into the mine tunnels, but now he saw what looked like a shrew working diligently on the button panel that summoned and dismissed the elevator. Standing on the floor beneath him was another masked mammal with the body of what was either a stout ferret or a regular otter. The larger mammal raised a tool up to the shrew so they could finish fixing a button back in place.

Maria put a paw on her hip. "Wow, you're really on edge. Here, Levvar figured you'd be hungry."

The panther tossed him the headless body of a bird. Sedor caught the feathered corpse and regarded it curiously. Then he put away the shears, reached up with his now free paw, and pulled off the mask.

Bogo had already known the identity of Woolton's killer, but it was still a mild shock to see Sedor Valentino's face. His brown eyes were feral, and so dark they were almost black against his fur. He bared his teeth, effortlessly taking a chunk out of the bird. Bogo turned away from the bloody scene, feeling sick, imagining how Benjamin must have felt when he walked in on Sedor feasting on that ram. The blood then had been far more copious.

Sedor rumbled a wordless response that only Maria and her companion seemed to understand, and walked off. "Okay, guess I'm on elevator guard duty now." Maria pulled herself onto the hood of the jeep and sat down, pulling off her mask and munching on a bird of her own. "Roarson, I don't know what the fuck his problem is. When the city goes to hell, it won't matter if the kid testifies or not."

Bogo's collar beeped. Could it be… Sedor was going after Benjamin?

Roarson crouched down beside the jeep. He growled in response to Maria's words, much like that lion that went savage in Sahara Square a week before Woolton was killed, when it had gone out of attack mode long enough for someone to dart him.

Maria kept talking. "Maybe's he's after the rhino. Not even Subject Zero can take on that big bastard." She paused. "It could.

Yeah, it could."

Roarson was on all fours now, his head low to the ground. Bogo heard a crunching sound, but he was more interested in the elevator. He had to get in there. He checked how many darts he had. Fourteen. Maria was the first, and most dangerous priority, and he had to take her out before she knew he was there, and he had to do it before Sedor came back.

He pushed on the door handle very, very slightly. It made no noise. He pushed the door just enough to get a clear view of Maria, whose eyes were watching Roarson as they both fed on the now bloody birds. He aimed with his dart gun, only to lower it again, infuriated. At this range, the dart was unlikely to penetrate. He'd need a rifle to get her.

He saw Sedor returning around the street corner, his maw red with the blood of the bird, and backed away from the door before he could be spotted. Sedor's shadow floated into view. The bear must have seen that the door was no longer closed. He was coming this way. Bogo bit the inside of his cheek and rushed to the nearest hiding spot- under a dirty table.

Sedor's thick legs came into view, stepping into the mess hall. His movements were slow, cautious, like a TUSK Officer searching an apartment for a suspected drug dealer. Bogo backed away slowly so the tabletop completely shielded him from Sedor's line of sight. There was a table knocked on its side close by that would provide more convenient cover, but Bogo had no way of knowing which way the bear was looking.

_Think, Mansa, think! There has to be a weak spot!_ Sedor couldn't have possibly been able to armor every part of his body. Even then, the coat looked too thick to penetrate with the dart. His gloves, perhaps. Into the palms, which were almost certainly unprotected.

Maria Manchas's legs appeared in the doorway, and so did the gleaming tip of the knife she held in her paw.

Sedor snorted. Bogo saw his hat fall to the ground where it was swiftly picked up by Maria. Then he dropped on all fours.

For three terrible seconds Bogo thought he was dead, but Sedor's dark, glinting eyes were on the top of the stairs. Bogo crossed the narrow open space to the spot behind the fallen table while the bear's attention was diverted. He double checked that his gun was loaded. He heard a hoarse sniffing sound, huffing, and other ominous vocalizations. Sedor was slipping deeper into savagery, letting primal instinct take over as he continued the hunt. The sounds suddenly stopped, and then the footsteps started to approach Bogo's position.

Bogo curled himself up into a ball, both hooves squeezing his gun, when Sedor's paws suddenly appeared and gripped the upper edge of the fallen table. He looked up to see Sedor's head turning slowly left to right, searching the room beyond the table. Bogo closed his hoof around the collar on his wrist. If it beeped now, he was-

"Hey, big guy!" Maria yelled. "I think they're done fixing it. You headin' down or what?"

Sedor snorted, then disappeared from sight. Bogo lay on the dirty, dusty floor behind the table, listening to Sedor's retreating footsteps. When he couldn't hear them anymore, he risked a peek. Sedor was on two feet again, taking his hat back from Maria before following her out the hall. The tension in his body vaporized, almost dropping him flat on the floorboards. "That was too bloody close." He muttered. It was another minute before he risked heading back to the door.

Bogo looked again through the binoculars, having to look around for a few seconds before he saw the mammals working on the elevator controls. The shrew was dropping down from the button panel, his assistant packing up the toolbox. They said no words, but evidently repairs had been finished. Sedor strode inside and punched a button, bringing the elevator back up.

Meanwhile Maria tossed Roarson the remains of her meal, which by now didn't resemble a bird at all, and slid off the jeep. "Okay, I'm going hunting. Save that buffalo for me if you see him."

Roarson simply dragged the carcass within eating range and continued eating while Maria walked off. Had Bogo not seen him riding the motorcycle with Maria, he would have thought him another complete savage. These predators were wild, but still possessed varying degrees of reason. _Who are these people?_

There was a clanking sound as the elevator rose into view and the doors opened. Through his enhanced view Bogo saw that most of the metal grating was gone, torn away like wrapping paper. Sedor stepped inside, evil-looking bone shears in his claws once more, and descended out of sight.

Bogo squared his shoulders. He would let hell freeze over before he let Sedor touch the cheetah again.

All he could see of Roarson was the tail and one of his feet protruding from behind the jeep. If he was going to get a shot at him, he was going to have to leave his hiding place.

Bogo pushed on the door handle. It creaked from rust, and his body tensed. Roarson kept feeding. Bogo slowly pushed the door open, making as little noise as possible. He looked both ways, but Maria was not in sight. The shrew and otter were also feeding, sharing the large bird they'd placed on one of the empty sleeping bags in the indoor camp. Bogo didn't remember birds being part of their species' diet.

Roarson was still feeding, oblivious to the buffalo strafing along the street, waiting for the moment the jeep was no longer between them. Roarson stopped and raised his head. Bogo hid behind the door before the mammal could spot him. Seconds later a bat flapped down and perched on the jeep's hood. He leaned over to Roarson and started whispering what sounded like actual words, then flew off. The buffalo saw bits of reddish-blonde mane poking out from beneath the back of the ski mask. This _was_ a lion. Bogo remembered a Ryan Roarson, a lion, being on the list of missing predators back at the precinct. Sedor was on that list, too, and so was Maria. He could hear her somewhere far away, singing to herself. Bogo kept still as a statue, not even breathing, until the bat finished speaking and flew off. The buffalo glanced at the two predators inside the building, trying to remember if a shrew or bat was on that list as well. There was definitely an otter. Emmitt Otterton, the florist from the Rainforest District. No-one at Precinct One, Bogo included, had anticipated their involvement in this whole mess.

Roarson watched the bat fly away, and then abandoned his meal, got back on his hind legs and ran off, to find Maria no doubt.

Bogo finally stepped onto the street. He kept the doorway in his line of sight, and the two smaller predators inside the building. The ground beneath him crunched slightly as he stepped on a piece of dry earth. _Damn it!_ He thought and dropped behind the jeep before the shrew and otter could see him. They were louder than they looked, he was sure, and he couldn't afford to have Maria and Roarson come charging back.

Come back they did, but they walked instead of charged. "Get your mini-butts out here!" The shrew and otter ran out, leaving their tool box behind. "Our personal informant's got news. Agent Savage is coming back up the mountain, and he's bringing a couple of friends. He also says he spotted the third ZPD officer at the bottom of the ravine, coming this way. Hands up if you want a slice of beefcake." She paused, then automatically decided they were in. "That's what I like to hear. Me and Lidel will search the mine, in case he's already here. You two will head down and search the ravine. You got your scalpel freshly poisoned, Emmy?" The otter held up a scalpel. "The fatal kind?" Emmitt shook his head. Maria smiled, put her mask back on, and patted the otter's head. "You've read my mind Emmy. If you catch him, don't kill him. We're out of the jammer's range, so you can radio us. I think we'd all like to take turns on this one."

The shrew climbed onto Maria's shoulder before she climbed back onto her bike and drove off, straight past Bogo as he remained hidden behind the jeep. He watched through the jeep's windows as Roarson and Emmitt walked into the mess hall.

"Bitch." Bogo growled under his breath as he rushed into the elevator building. Having a sister he loved and respected usually made him loathe to use the word in that manner, but in Maria's case it was apropos.

He pressed the button, the motor above his head groaning as it pulled at the elevator cables.

_"__In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get out again."_

That had been a quote he'd seen once before, on a loading screen on one of those survival horror games Kathyrn loved to play when she wasn't cutting open patients in the ER. She'd convinced him to play it one day when he was off sick, and during that gameplay he'd seen several other quotes like it. Kathryn had Zoogled it while he was playing and learned that they were all quotes from the _Alice in Wonderland_ book, and surmised that the story had parallels with the player character's only struggles with madness. For some reason it popped into Bogo's head as he stared down into the black hole of the elevator shaft. It was already too late for him. He'd gone down the hole long ago, only it wasn't a white rabbit that he chased but a golden cat. The quote rang in his ears again, like it was chastising him for bringing McHorn and Higgins with him. Well, Bogo was no naïve little piglet. He was going to find Benjamin, find a way to help McHorn and Higgins and then they were going to get the fuck out of the blood-spattered wonderland that was Founder's Mountain.


	28. Benjamin IV

Benjamin's teeth were chattering almost audibly when he found the elevator. He'd never been in a mine before, never imagined it would be this cold. Before his unexpected abduction by that rhino Benjamin had put on some warmer clothing to better tolerate the cooler climate of the Nocturnal District, and that was probably the only reason he hadn't succumbed to hypothermia yet. Thank goodness he'd picked up that map. He'd taken a wrong turn twice while travelling through the mines, but finding his way back on track had been mercifully easy. There were lights down here, little plain bulbs as bright as stars, bolted to the wall. He'd had to cross a metal bridge at one point, partly rusted from the underground river beneath it. Further along had been an older bridge, likely the same age as the mine, that let Benjamin cross a short, black chasm on his way. Waterfalls had roared at him from both sides, plunging down into the darkness. One of them had been so close he could reach out with his paws and drink from it.

Benjamin rubbed his arms and picked up the pace as he walked to the elevator. He was freezing, but the important thing was that he had run into no other crazies. He'd gotten lucky when the metal grating had ripped off as Sedor had tried to pull the first elevator back up, and he was sure the great bear was still on his trail. Once Benjamin reached the top of this elevator he'd have to sabotage it somehow, so the bear couldn't come up after him. The elevator was at the bottom when he reached it and pushed the button. The wide grate slid open with a shriek that made Benjamin look behind him in fear, but nothing emerged from the tunnel. He stepped inside and pressed the button to go up.

With nothing to do before the elevator reached the top, Benjamin tugged at his clothes. They were slightly baggier than they were about a month ago. This wasn't what he had in mind when he began considering a diet, and probably not wholly good for him. When he got out of here, he was going to gorge himself silly on donuts and start over again. Maybe he'd get half a dozen boxes and share it all with his friends.

His friends.

He missed them. Honey, Finnick, the little cub, even Nick. Even now he wasn't sure he was ready to forgive the fox for tricking him, and all the horrible things that had happened to him because of that trickery. The thought of it still upset him.

Weakening sunlight hit his face as the sun rose above ground, coming to a stop in a rocky area surrounded by walls built from logs. "Now where the heck am I?" Benjamin asked himself as the door slid open. He cautiously looked around, realized he was alone, and walked out. A small stone building stood beside the metal tower that held the elevator, but all that was inside were old mining tools and uniforms. Sabotaging the elevator proved easier said than done. Even with the tools Benjamin didn't have the strength to break the button panel, and there was no way to safely reach the motor. He waved his arms in horizontal semi-circles to shake off the cold, seeing an opening in the cliffs around him. He followed the naturally formed passage for a time, and then he stopped dead.

_A town._ He couldn't believe it. _An actual town._

It looked like a classic western town, with small wooden huts for houses and flat dirt for roads. It was a small town, so small he could see every building where he stood, and surrounding by the same log wall, like a fortress. It was also completely devoid of life.

_A ghost town. _

Benjamin couldn't help himself. "Curiouser and curiouser." He said. After a moment he snickered at himself. Coping mechanisms were weird.

The log wall was enclosing Benjamin, too, leaving him with nowhere to go but forward. He warily took the dirt path down to the first building and peeked through the window. The glass was so filthy he had to scrub it with his sleeve. The place looked like it hadn't been lived in for years, but there was an awful smell coming from the half-open door. Benjamin sniffed, the fur on the back of his neck sticking up when he thought of Woolton, but it didn't smell like blood or something rotting. It smelled more like poop. He pushed the door of the rest of the way. On the floorboards was a pile of scat that looked too moist to have been left before the town was abandoned.

Mouth dry with apprehension, he pressed on. He had to figure out where the hell he was if he hoped to get back to Zootopia.

Further into town he started coming across businesses. A grocery store. An old fashioned clinic only a little bigger than Nick's was. One of the biggest buildings he came across was a bar called the _Buffalo Bar._ The sign, bearing the image of an Animarican buffalo resembling Bisoniing, dangled from one chain. Benjamin wrung his paws, gazing at the image.

_Bogo, I hope you're okay. Wherever you are._

The sun was sinking over the tall tree line beyond the wall, casting the sky in shades of blue, red and pink, when Benjamin found the biggest building in town. The church stood apart from the other buildings, in the center of a graveyard that lay between the huts and the wall at the other side of town. Near the graveyard, built into the impenetrable wall of logs, was a set of large, heavy wooden gates.

Benjamin had seen no way out of town anywhere else. He went over to the gates, hoping that on the other side was a road that would take him back to modern civilization. He reached the doors, put his paws under the thick wooden bar that held them shut, and lifted.

It didn't even budge. Benjamin pulled harder, frowning. The bar was made of wood, it couldn't be _that_ heavy. Then he saw metal circles embedded in the bar.

Someone had nailed the bar to the gates.

Benjamin lost his temper and attacked the gates, pounding them with his fists, hyperventilating with frustration and despair, wanting nothing more than to wake up from this nightmare and be done with it. He didn't stop until his weight was propped against the gates, arms and forehead pressed against the wood, panting from exhaustion and fighting back tears. He thought about giving up and waiting for Sedor to claim him. He was trapped. His friends were god knows where, probably arrested or dead by now. His parents were dead. Pottermass, whose wife had died in that same accident, would likely not stop until he suffered the same fate. What was the point of pressing on?

Benjamin opened his eyes, staring at the ground beneath his feet. In his shadow it looked the color of a ZPD uniform.

_Bogo would press on. He's survived so much already, risked his life to protect me. Waiting for death like a lazy lemming would be a pretty sucky way to repay him._

Benjamin couldn't go back to the mine. Sedor was back there. He'd have to search the town for something to free the bar, perhaps an axe, or whatever tool existed that could pry out those nails. He'd have to start with the church.

The church was built from wood, just like every other building in town, yet it stood out like a cathedral in a glass and metal city. The tall windows were made of stained glass in abstract patterns, with the exception of the circular window right above the door which depicted what appeared to be a midnight blue flower with six petals. There was something odd about the glass. It looked opaquer than it should be, even with the grime and moss coating it. It was hard to tell in the dying light. The bell tower above the flower window was missing a bell, but Benjamin was more intrigued by the stink that reached his nose when he looked up at the tower; in between two plain tombstones was another pile of scat, this one drier than the first. Benjamin held his flashlight like a billy club as he approached the entrance to the church. There were shallow slashes on the doors, mostly around the handles and keyhole, that looked almost like claw marks…

He held his breath, pushed the doors open with a prolonged _creak_… and let it out. The church was dark and empty. In fact it was so dark he needed to use his flashlight, and when he turned it on and shone it around he saw why it was so dark and why the glass windows had looked so opaque. Someone had draped black fabric over each window, like ragged curtains, letting no light into the church. Other than that the church looked more or less normal. It had half a dozen intricately carved pews on either side, and an ivory altar with two empty golden candlesticks at the far back. It all looked rather fancy for a small town, but what would Benjamin know?

He almost propped the door open to let some more light in the room, but a year or so back Finnick had showed him a movie in which someone had gotten caught and mauled by a werewolf because they'd done the same thing. So he closed the door, casting himself in complete darkness, and continued his exploration. He shone the light down so he wouldn't trip over anything, and noticed that the floor was covered in scuff marks and prints with four unusually long and pointed toes.

Somewhere on the other side of the room, Benjamin thought he saw the shifting of fabric. He shone the light, half-expecting that it was the one of the ragged black curtains moving, but the beam fell on plain wood.

On the left wall was a closed door, hopefully a storeroom. Benjamin highly doubted a church would contain anything that could be used to remove a giant block of wood, but after meeting that certifiable bat, nothing was certain.

_"Another chomper for the experiment. Project Twilight. You would not be completely feral, so you couldn't be called savage, but neither would you be sane."_

Levvar, or Subject Twelve as he'd called himself, sounded like he'd been explaining the plot of a generic monster movie, and if he'd heard it before meeting Sedor the cheetah never would have believed it. Was that what had happened to Nick the night Wild Times was exposed? Had he become an unwitting participant of the experiment Levvar had spoken of?

Benjamin heard a small sound, like the hiss of a snake. He turned round, and then he was literally scared stiff.

Something was standing before one of the windows about ten feet away, tugging at the curtain covering it. The flashlight, aimed downward by the cheetah's frozen paw, only illuminated the hem of the figure's clothing, a loose bluish-black garment that could be a dress or a robe. It was moving the curtain slightly aside, looking through the window at the sunset. It was almost Sedor's height, but too slender to be him. It didn't appear be interested in Benjamin, if it had even noticed him at all.

Benjamin couldn't summon the nerve to raise the flashlight any higher. His other paw reached behind, fumbling for the handle of the door he'd discovered. His fingers scrabbled, finding nothing but air. He turned around and grabbed the handle, pushing the door as quietly as he could. Even as the room turned out to be a small office, he faintly smelled the same smell that had been in the fire watch tower full of birds and bottled blood, a stench of death and decay. Before entering he turned his head, and then he gasped.

The figure was coming toward him.

It wasn't rushing at him, however. Hunched over like a ghoul, it walked slowly, almost casually in the feline's direction as he backed into the room. Benjamin made out the shape of a loose-fitting robe, tied at the waist with thin cord. The flashlight caught curved, clawed, pallid hands protruding from billowing tattered sleeves. He thought it might be some kind of large wolf or big cat, but the proportions didn't look right. The arms looked too thin, and the legs looked too long. What he could see of its muzzle look wrong, too. It was as pale as its claws, with a long thin snout and front teeth as long as viper fangs. Its nostrils were right at the front, the nose looking nothing like that of a canine or a feline's. It looked more like a mole's nose, only smoother and more refined and without the pink tip. The fangs glinted pale grey in the darkness. Why did these people have to wear such creepy masks?

It crept into the room after Benjamin as he continued to back away, never taking his eyes off of the hooded figure. His legs hit the desk, which was too heavy to nudge aside, allowing the cloaked creature to come close enough to touch. Benjamin saw its nostrils flare, and noticed pale, blank yellow eyes not really looking at him beneath the large hood. Looking past Benjamin's face, the orbs blinked, the movement slightly tugging at the skin and muscle around its darkened eyelids.

That was no creepy mask. It was real.

Feeling faint, Benjamin slid along the desk, reached the corner of the office and pressed himself into it. The creature did not follow, instead sauntering toward another, narrower door Benjamin hadn't noticed. Every move it made, every step it took was eerily graceful, like a spider stalking in slow motion. It stopped at the desk and slowly plucked something off the surface. It was a large metal key. The creature unlocked the door and opened it, revealing a staircase leading downward. The deathly stench intensified, making Benjamin feel sick. The creature slid inside and shut the door behind it, without even so much as a glance at the cheetah.

After two seconds, Benjamin started walking toward the other door. He was flat out running when he was out the office, almost colliding with the church doors as he grabbed them, wanting nothing more than to get out. The doors were locked. The creature must have locked them in the couple of minutes before he had spotted it. He spun around, the flashlight's beam spinning with him, on the verge of panic before he saw the other door, next to the altar at the far back. He sprinted to the door and threw it open.

This door also led to a set of stairs, and only the absence of a rotting stench gave Benjamin the courage to go down. Had he not still been reeling from his encounter with that hooded freak, he would have been stunned by what he found.

It looked like some kind of twentieth century bunker, full of metallic crates and boxes. There was a desk at the far end, complete with a swivel chair. Everything was covered in dust. Benjamin tried one of the crates. It was heavy but could still be pushed around with some effort. He pushed it in front of the door, then put some boxes on top for good measure. When he was done, he dropped himself on the edge of the crate, sucking in deep lungfuls of air, focused on not passing out. When he was sure he wasn't going to flop to the floor, he considered the make-shift barricade.

He hoped to God it was enough.

Now sealed inside the room, Benjamin took a better look around. Nothing stood out about the boxes, except they each bore a sticker depicting a flag. The flag was a field of black and red stripes alongside a coat of arms, which itself consisted of a pig clutching a sword and a set of scales, with a red heart floating above its head.

It was the flag of Roarcadia.

Benjamin nearly smacked his head. Of course this was Swinetown, that old town that Mayor Swinton's ancestors had founded, only to dry up along with the mine. That still didn't explain why this church was storing assets from a city that been abandoned for far more terrible reasons. The surprise eased some of his terror, allowing curiosity to rise up in its place. What was Roarcadia stuff doing here?

Benjamin opened one of the boxes, finding a set of files. He stared down at them, thinking of the things Levvar had told him. Sedor, Levvar, those wolves and however many psychopaths that were on this mountain had been made that way by some kind of experiment. Project Twilight, he'd called it. Whatever that was, it was connected to the hellish nightmare Benjamin had been forced to endure for nearly two months. He took the entire box over to the desk, sat down and pulled out the first file to read. He hesitated at the thought of that hooded creature. He tried to push the image aside, but could not.

_The only monsters that exist in this world are monsters like Cunninghorn and Sedor. Real monsters don't exist. They cannot exist. That had to be a mask. It had to be. _

_It had to be._


	29. Jack IV

Jack, Alyssa and Gabriel Mossberg discovered the radio signal was being jammed when Alyssa tried to call Honey to see if she had an answer for the presence of the tire tracks outside the lodge. Jack, as the smallest mammal, had been the one to volunteer to take a closer look.

A quick sweep of the lodge confirmed it was empty. He signaled for Alyssa and Gabe to break cover and join him in the grassy space between the tire tracks and the building.

"There's something wrong." He said. "Any luck with the signal?"

Alyssa shook her head.

Gabe suddenly dropped down on one knee, one paw propped near a set of footprints formed by the mud beneath the grass. "I think Jack may be right. Even if Slothfeld isn't here, we should give the place a thorough check."

Jack bent down beside Gabe. "What are you seeing?"

Gabe turned his head to look in the direction of the tire tracks. "Three sets of tracks. All of them were wearing winter boots. They were species more inclined to hot weather. Judging from the size and shape, at least two of them were prey. One hippo, one rhino… one bovine."

"Officer Hopps's coworkers at the ZPD." Jack muttered. "I see feline tracks here."

Gabe was silent as he examined the tracks further. "Two. A lion and something smaller. Maybe a jaguar." He looked at where the first three tracks started at the car. "They came out the car on their own. Not in a hurry. They must have come to search the lodge." Gabe's curious finger moved to the drag marks formed from damaged grass smeared with mud. "Something was dragged back and taken away in the car. Something big." He stood up and started following the drag marks, never taking his eyes off the ground. Alyssa followed while Jack stayed put to keep a lookout. Hearing nothing but the rustling ambience of the forest, Jack swiveled his ears to the sound of his fellows as they walked out the corner of the lodge.

"There was a struggle here." He heard Gabe saying, putting out one short sentence after another like he would put pieces on a jigsaw puzzle. "See that large patch where the grass is completely crushed? McHorn fell here. Knocked out, or killed, because there's no rhino tracks going away from the site. Higgins came over to help him. Two predators came after. Both officers were subdued and dragged from the scene."

Jack started walking, following their voices.

"They dragged a rhino?" Alyssa sounded understandably skeptical.

"Most police cars have a winch cable for the not-so-urban districts." Jack said upon turning the corner and seeing them crouched near the edge of the ravine. "They probably used that."

Alyssa nodded. "That makes sense. What about Bogo?"

Gabe pointed to the edge of the ravine. "He was attacked over there. He was knocked to the ground, then forced over the edge."

Jack strode to the edge and looked down. "I don't see him." He pulled out his night-vision binoculars and took a closer look. "Son of a gun."

"What? What is it?" Alyssa asked.

"I think he survived."

Alyssa joined him at the edge. Jack's breath hitched when her thick tail brushed the back of his legs. "How do you know?" She said.

"See where the rubble's been disturbed? That was recent." Jack said. Alyssa had to rely on her own natural night vision to see what he was talking about. "He stopped falling midway down, then climbed the rest of the way."

"You've got to be joking." Alyssa said.

"Buffalos are pretty tough S.O.B.s." Gabe said. "It's possible. We should search the lodge before moving on."

"Wait, what about Bogo?" Alyssa shook his head. "You know we can't go down there after him."

"But-"

"Slothfeld is the priority." Jack barked. "Every minute we delay means it's more likely he'll disappear again, probably for good. The mission must come first, Alyssa, and it's taken way too long already."

Alyssa narrowed her eyes. "If I'd put the mission first when we found you on that road, you would be dead right now."

Jack scowled and turned to the lodge. "The point is that putting ourselves at risk by trying to climb down that ravine would not be the wisest thing to do. If Bogo is already dead or captured, it would also be a complete waste of time. The best thing to do is to find the mammals responsible for this mess, find a way to restore communications, and end this conspiracy by tearing it out at the roots. By the way, that lodge is booby trapped."

"Don't try to change the subject, Jack."

"I'm not changing the subject. The subject is no longer up for discussion."Alyssa's fur stood up. "How can you be so callous?"

Jack shot her a tranquilly furious look. "Do I need to remind you that we are on a time limit?"

"Quiet, both of you!" Gabe snapped. "Savage, you need to phrase your words without sounding like a ruthless jackass. Alyssa, what the bunny with trust and teamwork issues is trying to say is that we'd be better off finding the mammals who attacked the officers instead of spending all night searching a highly dangerous ravine for a mammal who's probably not even down there anymore. And if we can find the jammer and disable it, we can also call for someone to help out the missing officers."

Jack thought of how he'd met Captain Bogo and his sister several weeks ago, both of whom had been more honest and cooperative with him than anyone from City Hall. And for the first time in years he felt ashamed of his pragmatism. "We're not leaving him for dead, Alyssa. You have my word on that."

Alyssa still looked unhappy as they began their search of the lodge and found signs of another struggle. Jack had already seen the partly muddy prints, sprung traps and fired darts and envision the scenario in his mind. Two traps, a leg trap and a shotgun trap, had been sprung, and a physical altercation had ensued. The confrontation had continued outside, at the edge of the ravine. The search of the lodge had turned up no secret entrances, but tripwire had been discovered in the dining room. Had it been tripped, it would have caused the chandelier to fall.

Then there had been what they had found in the trophy room.

Even Jack had had to swallow back bile as he found Alyssa, who had entered the trophy room first, throwing up in the grass outside. He tapped her shoulder and offered a bottle of water as she wiped her muzzle.

"It will get easier." He told her while she rinsed her mouth and spat into the ground. Truth be told it was missions like this that made him want to give up on mammality entirely, and give himself fully to the darkness that made him such an efficient killer.

Alyssa's ear twitched when Gabe emerged, shutting the front door behind him. She had a haunted look in her large eyes. "You… you don't…"

"Hm?"

"You don't think Cheryl had anything to do with this… do you?"

Jack didn't answer.

"We should move on." Gabe said. "Slothfeld's not here and we only have four days to find him and unlock the data disk. How far to the asylum?"

"An hour maybe more. But the asylum may be another dead end." Alyssa said.

"You have a better suggestion?" Jack asked.

Alyssa wordlessly pointed to the tire tracks.

They set off on foot, moving deliberately and quietly through the cover of darkness and foliage as they followed the tracks on the dirt road. Jack's ears were erect throughout the journey, and the rest of the rabbit was on edge, his grip tight on his silenced handgun. It had been on a dark night like this when he'd been ambushed by that otter, felt the poisoned knife cut his arm, and almost died of anaphylaxis. He could not, would not let that happen again. The first sign of trouble would get a bullet between the eyes. He had to multitask his excellent hearing skills, listening both for hostiles and his fellow agents creeping through the forest nearby.

It was another two hours before the tracks led them out the forest and toward the bridge to Founder's Mount Asylum.

"Huh." Alyssa muttered.

Jack smirked as he used his binoculars to search for security cameras. "Still a good idea. Now we know for sure this the place."

Jack and Alyssa searched the nearby guardhouse while Gabe stayed behind to examine the tire tracks and footprints they'd found on the damp ground. The guardhouse was empty, and looked to have been empty for days.

"Guys!" Gabe called, striding over to them. "I think we've found it!"

Jack and Alyssa spun round. "You have?"

"There're two sets of tracks. Two cars came up here recently, but one of them stopped here. Two mammals got out. A rhino and a cheetah."

Alyssa's head jerked sharply to the asylum up ahead. "Ben."

"Cunninghorn." Gabe snarled the name. "He stopped the car here. Since his tracks go to and from that guardhouse, he probably had to raise the boom so he could drive across the bridge."

"That bastard's probably up to his neck in this Project Twilight stuff." Alyssa said."You don't know the half of it." Gabe said. "He's the one who abducted me and Starlight. He's probably responsible for every missing predator case on the ZPD's list."

"And Cheryl." Alyssa pointedly checked her weapon. "Just to be clear, we don't need _him_ alive, do we?"

"Nope." Jack said.

"And if we find Ben along the way, you don't have any objections to us rescuing him, do you?"

"Not at all."

Alyssa smiled. "In that case, I am no longer angry with you."

_Women_, Jack thought irritably.

The satisfaction of finally getting a break in the case was short lived when they examined the area further and discovered claw marks and old, dried blood on the stone sign beside the bridge. Thoughts of Lemming's corpse, the slaughter in the sawmill and the lodge's trophy room put them back on edge and they began quietly discussing a plan. It was decided at the start that the bridge was a bad idea. It was too exposed and easy to get cornered on. There were even cameras stationed halfway down. They were prepared for that. Jack, Alyssa, Gabe and Honey had spent hours examining all the maps and blueprints Honey could dig up until they found a more discrete way in. For the sake of caution Jack raised his binoculars and examined the lights, the windows, and the closed gate at the other end of the bridge. The power was still on, he could confirm that much. Other than that, the asylum looked uninhabited.

_Isn't that always the case?_ The asylum looked so ominous it bordered on cliché. In fact, he thought he saw a shadow pass by one of the upper windows when Alyssa nudged him.

"There it is."

Jack looked and saw a metal pipe partly protruding from the far cliffside, pouring a steady stream of water into the river down below. "Now we're talking."

Alyssa looked at Gabe. "You got your Mag-ryder, love?"

Gabe pulled down his sleeve. Jack checked his own grappling hook to make sure it was still in functional condition. So far he was the only agent in the ZIA to possess such a device, since the RD department had yet to develop a motor strong enough to lift any mammal bigger than a fox. It was the source of pride for him, the first proof that bigger didn't always mean badder.

Alyssa flicked at finger. "After you."

Jack took careful aim at the upper part of the pipe and fired. He'd done this a hundred times. The barb shot in a near-unnoticeable arc, hitting the metal. Jack kept his eyes on his destination as the line went taught. Any other mammal would half felt a thrill as he soared through cold, open air, spinning his body just before he hit the floor of the pipe and rolled to his feet. The water wasn't high or flowing fast enough to be a problem, so he stepped aside and signaled for the next mammal to follow. The super magnet flew past his head, bringing Alyssa with it. She rolled to her feet just as the rabbit had done, then cursed at having to roll in freezing sewer water. Gabe did the same ten seconds later, but with even more cursing.

"Shit, shit, shit! I think I put my knee in some shit!" He shook the worst of the wetness off his sleeves before dipping his stained kneecap in the stream. "I suppose I should thankful I made it in here in one piece."

Fortunately for the two predators, and Jack's waning patience, it didn't take long for them to find a way into the building above. Gabe used his kukri to pry open the grate, and they ascended one by one into a male's restroom. Alyssa's face contorted as she scanned the room with her weapon. "Someone keeps forgetting to flush."

"Or bury their dead." Gabe said, also sniffing the air. "I'm going to advise in advance against splitting up once you're finished the security room."

Jack didn't like that. Going solo made it easier for him to move around unnoticed, but with the headsets unusable he had to concede. There were no cameras in the restroom, but there was no telling what kind of security was outside. Jack crept to the door and saw it was already partially open. Lucky him. He knelt down and peeked through the gap.

Immediately he saw that the building indeed had power. All the lights were lit, making the colorless hallway look deceptively ordinary. It looked just like how Jack would imagine a hospital hallway would be on an uneventful evening.

Except for the splash of old, dried blood covering a door halfway down.

"Aw, bugger." Alyssa hissed. "Gabe's right. Something bad happened here."

Jack took a closer look at the blood with his binoculars. There were pawprints on the floor, and smeared hoofprints on the door and the walls on either side. There had been an attack here, and it had ended fatally. The hoofprints looked like they belonged to a pig, and no pig could survive losing this much blood. "This blood looks like it was spilled months ago."

"Months? That can't be. The staff would have cleaned it up by now." Even as Alyssa said this, Jack could see from the look on her face that she was coming to the same conclusion he was.

"We have to get to the security room." Gabe said. "Where's that vent?"

Jack pointed up at the rectangular grate in the ceiling above the urinals. "Keep an eye on the camera in the hallway. When the red light goes out, you'll know it's safe. You two remember what we do next?"

"We regroup in the first floor office." Gabe said.

"With communications down we'll need to alter our plans." Jack checked the string on his crossbow. The limbs of the weapon were collapsible, so he should be able to take it with him into the vent. "Once the cameras are disabled, we should make the jammer our next target."

Alyssa and Gabe had no objections to that. Jack used his grappling hook to raise himself up to the ceiling until he could reach the grate. He had to act quickly before the lactic acid building up in his arm became too much for him. Fortunately the screws were easy to remove, and he was inside the vent within four minutes.

With the map of the ventilation system almost perfectly memorized, Jack quickly found the security room. The room was empty other than the corpse sprawled in a chair near the center. The back of the bull's skull was gone. A pistol was in his hoof. He'd been dead for months.

Jack tried to force the vent open, but the screws held fast. He had to kick it one, two, three, eight times, the metal bending further with each kick, until the cover popped free.

Jack dropped into the room and hopped onto the control board. He scanned the monitors, searching for the jammer, Slothfeld, and any sign of life he could find. He eventually found the jammer in an office on the top floor, but that was yesterday news compared to what he saw in the other monitors.

The cafeteria was an unusual mess. It looked like someone had flipped all the chairs and tables and then spilled food, drink and visceral fluids all over the place. Except the furniture had been righted without the spills being cleaned. Two thirds of the halls Jack saw had suffered some amount of blood and damage. There were no bodies to be found.

Jack turned his attention to the underground floor, particularly the modernized patient cells that had caught his eye. What he saw confirmed the suspicions he'd had since seeing the blood in that hallway.

"Looks like the test subjects have had enough."

The monitor showed a long room full of empty glass cells. Stamped on each thick glass door was a number. Jack countered ten that he could see. He flicked a switch, changing the camera and the angle, and saw more cells labelled eleven to twenty. There was blood on the floor in the hallway between the rows of cells, as old as every other stain in this forsaken place.

Jack pinched the bridge of his nose. Llater had told him that Slothfeld had recently been in contact with Mayor Swinton concerning the escaped test subjects Gabe and Sedor. Then he remembered the things Alyssa had told him, what she had learned about Slothfeld from his disgruntled former coworkers. Slothfeld had been a typical insufferable genius, unable to accept responsibility for his mistakes or even admit that something had gone wrong in the first place. Remembering that, Jack wouldn't be surprised if Slothfeld had been downplaying the situation to his benefactor all along, too prideful to call for help until it was too late.

Jack sighed deeply, leaning over the control board. Once the jammer was disabled, he would have to immediately report the situation to HQ. And he'd have to tell Miss Morton that the mission may not be possible to complete.

From now on, they'd have to consider the possibility that Dr. Slothfeld may already be dead.

Trying not to think about what this would mean for Zootopia, Jack starting flicking through more monitors using the various switches, a little curious as to why everything was covered in dust. He froze, his breath hitching in his throat, when the image on the monitor in front of him suddenly showed him a sloth.

The sloth was unmoving, an ill-fitting lab coat covering almost his entire body, as he sat tied to a chair in the Director's Office on the top floor. His back was to the camera, his head hanging limply from his long neck.

Jack had to get back to the others. Fast.

He switched off the monitors, by extension switching off the red lights on the cameras, and dropped down from the control panel. The security room door was locked, from the inside judging from the dead body in the chair. The test subjects had likely never made it inside. Jack found a keycard in the pocket of the body and made sure to lock the door behind him as he left.

Alyssa and Gabe were already waiting in the first floor office when he arrived. "I think I've found Slothfeld." He told them immediately.

With that they made straight the Director's Office, treading carefully even though every room they passed through was empty. There was the possibility that hostiles had managed the hide in the cameras' blind spots, or had set up booby traps like the ones found in the lodge. Their need for extreme caution was clashing infuriatingly with their sense of urgency. If Slothfeld was still alive, he may not be for much longer. They had to get the decryption key out of him before it was too late.

They stopped outside the sophisticated wooden door to the Director's Office, Gabe turning to Alyssa.

"You stay out here."

"Why?" Alyssa didn't like that.

"I don't like that Slothfeld's been left alone. Either he's dead or we're walking into a trap. Maybe both. Someone needs to stay outside and cover us."

Alyssa nodded and pointed her gun down the hallway. Jack and Gabe pressed themselves to the walls on either side of the door. The room beyond was silent. Gabe reached for the handle and pulled.

Gabe and Jack stopped in the doorway, sweeping the expensively furnished office and silently confirming it was clear. Gabe reached Slothfeld first, moving around the chair, and then he swore.

"What is it?" Jack asked.

Without saying a word, Gabe turned the chair around.

A mannequin. Of course it was.

Something dropped from the ceiling vent and clinked on the floorboard. Jack looked down. The object was small, cylindrical and black. He didn't even have a split-second to recognize what it was before everything turned bright white and his sensitive lagomorphic ears exploded with noise.

He yelled for Alyssa, unable to hear his own voice for the ringing in his ears. Blinking away the worst of the blinding light, Jack found himself face to face with himself. He had to see beyond the lingering purple flashes to recognize his own reflection on the visor of a motorcycle helmet.

On instinct he raised his weapon to put down the threat.

On instinct the other helmeted wolf behind the rabbit jammed a taser into his back.


	30. Judy IV

Judy sensed something was wrong when she woke up to see Honey leaning over her, a fat paw frozen in the middle of reaching out to wake the rabbit.

"Whud?" She mumbled groggily.

"Bunny, you need to get your head in gear. I've lost contact with Alyssa and the others."

Judy sat up and rubbed her eyes. She didn't see Nick, but Finnick and Sherry were still napping on a bean bag and the infant cub was squirming in his metallic crib. "What do you mean you lost contact?"

"Exactly what I said on the tin." Honey growled. "The signal crapped out six hours ago and I haven't heard from them since."

"Oh, sweet cheese and crackers. Where's Nick?"

"In the shower. The first one didn't get rid of all the sewer smell."

Judy looked past the badger and saw the shut door. "So now what? We go after them?"

Honey scowled and jerked her thumb at the computer. "Doug Ramses is still watching this place! We can't just go after them!"

Judy frowned at the same computer. It was showing four smaller images of the area surrounding the tree concealing the bunker. "I've been seeing him pop up every now and then on my hidden cameras." Honey said. "Sometimes he goes right up to the tree, sometimes he looks in the windows. For the last hour, nothing."

"Has he entered the apartment yet?" Judy asked.

"Just once. Depending on what was on that PDA, he may know he won't be able to get in through the hatch." Honey paused in thought. "I saw him checking out the pipes and outside faucet before he stopped showing up on the cameras. Must be checking to see if the house was really empty."

"Pipes?"

"For the sink and bathtub upstairs, or it used to. I made some alterations, so now the water comes down here."

"Is that legal?"

"Really, bunny? Really?"

"… Just so long as it's your water."

Honey snorted and returned to the computer. "I don't get it. Ramses's as persistent as you. He should have tried _something_ by now."

"Looks like he must be waiting for us, then. Mind if I watch the cameras for a while?" Judy asked.  
"Knock yourself out. I gotta check on the baby."

"You're not going to say no? I am a police officer."

"Who was almost killed by her own people. That's enough to convince me you're not one of them. Use the arrow keys to switch feeds. Touch anything else and I'll touch you down like a football."

Judy jumped onto the chair and propped her head on her arms. The monitors were black and white and flickered every now and them, but they provided clear images. Judy saw the exposed pipes Honey had mentioned, fixed to the wall next to one of the windows. Shoddy construction like that would explain why a predator could afford the place. She saw the front door, closed and locked since she and Nick had arrived. She switched feeds, seeing a small bunch of ferns sitting right next to the tree's trunk. Judy narrowed her eyes, sure there was something fixed to the tree behind the ferns.

"What's that?" Judy tapped the screen. She felt Honey's presence appear beside her. "There's something behind that plant."

"That's a vent, nothing to worry about." Honey said. "When I built the bunker I had six made to make sure I don't run out of air down here."

Judy looked up. It took her a few seconds to find the one of the vents above the bean bags where Finnick and Sherry was still sleeping. "What if someone saw them?"

"No-one who lives in the Rainforest District would be likely to go near enough to check it out. Those ferns are really fake, but it's common knowledge in these parts that this species of ferns are poison. So like I said, there's nothing to worry about."

Judy took a closer look at the screen. "_Pteridium aquilinum_, right?"

"Teri-what? Sounds like a prehistoric radioactive element."

"Bracken Fern. That's the species, I think." Judy said. "And you're right, they are poison."

"Huh." Honey said, eyebrows raised. "How does a carrot farmer turned rogue cop know that?"

"I am _not_ rogue." Judy said. "It was the one thing my dad worried most about almost as much as predators. Plant husbandry is kind of a big deal in my family, what with some of the vegetables we grow having toxic properties of their own. When I passed the academy, dad gave me a brand-new book on plants in case I got assigned to the Rainforest District. Come to think of it, he would have been happier if I went there instead of City Central."

"Then he doesn't know Zootopia as well as he thinks he does." A voice behind them made them turn. Nick, fur spiky from his trip to the shower, had changed into a tartan grey shirt that Judy found far more appealing that his Pawiian eyesores. "Now what are we going to do about our missing superspies?"

Honey glared at the fox. "You've left the shower on, you idiot."

"No, I didn't."

"I can hear it running."

Judy could hear it, too.

Nick put his paws on his hips. "You've been wearing headphones for too long. I turned the shower off as soon as I was done."

"Then why can I still hear it…" Honey stopped speaking upon walking to the door and opening it. "Running?"

There was a bellowed curse nearby; Finnick was flailing under a thin pillar of water splashing over his face, his cries startling awake the cheetah cub beside him. The little fox fell off the bean bag, blinking and spitting, as the adults looked up.

"What's going on with the vent?" Nick asked, watching as the pouring water formed a puddle in the top of the bean bag. There was a splattering sound to the side. The second vent in the far corner was spilling water, too. Within a minute, every vent in the ceiling was pouring.

"Great. Just great." Nick said. "Psycho-serums, magnetic catapults, and now a burst pipe."

"In a ventilation system?" Judy asked.

Honey rushed over to the computer and started looking through feeds. Judy walked over to join her. Honey was flicking through the feeds rather quickly, but Judy could see that things had changed since she'd last seen then. The faucet had been attached to some kind of hose, and similar tubing had been placed in some of the outdoor vents.

"Shit!" Honey dropped down and yanked the computer's plug from its socket. "Shit, shit! Someone get the baby and turn off all the plugs! I knew he was up to something out there!"

"Wait a second, you're not saying Ramses is behind this!" Finnick yelled.

"Switch it off! Switch it all off!" Honey was shouting.

The water kept pouring, forming a puddle that was expanding by the second.

Honey opened a small door hidden behind her alien sheep poster and reached inside. Judy heard her flick a switch, plunging the room in complete darkness.

Judy blinked, feeling the primal fear that came with the unknown. She heard a thud, and Honey cursing. Nick yelped, and the baby started crying loudly. Then she saw a beam of light shining upon the baby's metal box. Rubbing her shin Honey shone the flashlight on Nick, who judging from his soaked upper half appeared to have blindly walked under one of the vents. The badger looked sheepish as she handed flashlights to the fox and rabbit. "I probably should have grabbed the lights before turning off the power."

The water splashed lightly when Judy took a step. It still wasn't much deeper than a puddle, but it was getting there. The entire floor was now soaked.

"What about Lance?" Sherry had gone over to the baby to try and stop his crying.

"Leave him in the box, for now." Honey said. "This bunker will hours takes to fill, if not days."

"But he's not trying to drown us, is he?" Nick asked. Sherry, ignoring Honey's command, picked up the infant and gently rocked him as he cried. "You think pulling the big switch will be enough?"

"I don't know. The only way to be sure is to remove the face from the meter pan, but that's outside." Honey clambered up the ladder, her upper half disappearing into the tunnel. There was a clanging sound. "Fuck!" Honey dropped down onto the wet floor. "I knew it. He's blocked the hatch!"

Judy's ears pricked. "What's that beeping coming from your pocket?"

Honey plucked a headset from the pocket of her baggy cargo pants and glared at it before holding it to her ear. "It's him."

Judy frowning, thinking of what she'd learned about radios in the academy. "How did he know the channel?"

"Probably something else he learned from Savage's PDA." Honey held the headset from her ear while she said this. "I'll rip out those trilateral teeth of his if I ever see him again!" She held the headset back to her ear. "What do you think you're playing out?"

She felt silent, seething as she listened to the ram. Judy had to strain her ears to hear tidbits of what Ramses was saying.

_"… __you have two choi… out and receive a painless death by bullet or… switch on this generator and…"_

"Do you really think electricity works that way?" Honey asked.

Ramses spoke so softly Judy almost didn't get a word. _"… lives of two chil… worth… ing that chance?"_

Honey's angry face fell, as did Judy's.

"What does that psycho want?" Finnick asked.

"He wants us." Honey said simply.

"Especially me." Nick said, ears flattening.

"In that case, let's give him what he wants." Judy slipped a dart into her weapon.

Honey sheathed her claws and stepped between Judy and Nick, snarling.

"Not him!" Judy snapped to hide the alarm that came with being confronted by an angry predator. "Someone needs to get that hatch open, get out there and take him down!"

"A cute little bunny against a trained assassin and sniper? Are you stupid?" Finnick yelled.

"I'm valedictorian and don't call me cute!"

Something flew between their heads and bounced off the blank computer screen. "Stop it!" Sherry yelled from the table, cradling the baby. "You're scaring Lancy!"

Nick put a paw on Judy and Finnick's shoulders and gently pushed the two agitated mammals apart. "The young lady is right. And so is Finn, minus the stupid part. That crazy fluffball's not screwing around, Carrots."

"So what do you suggest we do?" Judy asked, glancing down when she felt water lapping around her ankles. "Call for backup?"

"That will either get them killed or get us killed. We can't tru-"

"Ramses isn't stupid." Judy interrupted. "When the ZPD showed up at the Arctic House, he retreated without firing a single bullet at them. There's no reason he won't do the same thing here."

"Except he's been stopped from completing his mission two or three times already." Nick said. "I know his type. At some point they're just gonna say 'screw it' and cross the line. I betcha if someone interferes again he's going to start shooting, ZPD or not. Unless of course they're on the same payroll as his boss."

"Then it'll have to be someone absolutely _not_ on the payroll." Honey splashed over to her safe, unlocked it and pulled out a laptop. She opened it and switched it one. "Forty percent battery, thank God. Someone turn the wifi back on."

Nick plugged the device into the wall, taking care not to get water on the socket. It was a good thing the water was still an inch deep. Honey put the laptop on the table beside the kids and started typing.

"What're you doing?" Nick asked.

"Calling in the mafia." Honey said.  
Judy's jaw dropped. Nick seemed to go a little pale. "You're what?" He squeaked.

"I dug up everything I could after Mr. Big's gang tried to threaten Nick." Honey said, still typing. "That includes emails. In a minute, Mr. Big is going to receive an anonymous tip that the Columbian Ocelots are concealing a large shipment of weapons to sell to Koslov in the Rainforest District, Vine and Tujunga."

"Mr. Big!?" Nick dug his claws into his scalp and started pacing. "And you thought Carrots's idea was stupid?"

"They'll send someone whether they believe the tip or not." Honey stopped typing. "Mr. Big has no real grievance with us, and that means he can be reasoned with. Unless you prefer we pin TUSK or Koslov back on our butts."

Nick grimaced. "Point taken. What happens when they get here?"

"If you two are right about Ramses, he'll ghost or start shooting. Either way, we'll use the information I have on Koslov to negotiate with Mr. Big." Honey said.

"Are we going to tell him about the disk?" Nick asked.

Honey paused, and then hovered the cursor over the send button. "When I push this button, we'll have at least twenty minutes before they get here. You might wanna start gearing up."

Judy grabbed Honey's paw. "You sure we can't just call the police?"

Honey wrinkled her nose at her. "I don't know if you've figured it out yet, fluff, but whoever we call is probably being led to a slaughter. Better the bad guys than the blue guys, right?"

"But we can't just-"

Honey got in her face. "You have any better suggestions?!" Judy's small mouth opened, but nothing came out. "That's what I thought." With that, she clicked send.

Judy spent the next twenty minutes suffering from a nauseating hole in her stomach as she checked and gathered her gear, including an addition from Honey's private store; a short, futuristic telescope with excellent range and a night vision mode. It was one of a batch of identical telescopes of various sizes, and this one happened to be the second-smallest.

"Why are you still wearing that thing, Nick?" Finnick asked, hefting a baseball bat. Judy saw Nick fiddling with the black device on his forearm. Mag-Ryder, Honey had called it

"Haven't quite figured out how to get it off, yet." Nick shrugged guiltily.

Honey tucked the Gazelle CD case containing the Data Disk safely into her pocket and checked the camera feed on her laptop once more. She glanced at the floodwater beneath them.

"Everyone get on the table. I don't know how long it'll be before the water reaches the outlets."

Judy, Nick and Finnick joined Honey and the two cubs on the table. Judy found herself squeezed between Nick and Lance's metal box.

"Here they come." Honey muttered. Judy looked at the laptop and saw two black cars coming to a stop outside the tree. Bears, wolves and other predators came out bearing machine guns. Judy stared at the screen. Two bears kicked the door down, and Judy was sure she heard the sound faintly above her. Sherry was sniffling even as she gently rocked baby Lance on her lap. This wasn't Nick and Honey's fault, Judy had to remind herself. On the laptop screen, the bears strode inside barrels first. After a moment, the wolves followed.

There was no sign of Doug Ramses.

Honey switched feeds to show the predators inside the apartment above them. Doug had left the trapdoor wide open, and the bears were already pointing their guns down into it. Judy froze, clutching her gun when she heard the mammals above fiddling with the hatch. There was a metal scraping sound as whatever Doug had used to lock the hatch was removed.

"Let me do the talking." Nick muttered as they all heard the hatch's handle turning.

"While we do all the pants-pissing, got it." Finnick growled.

"Bad language." Sherry said.

"Aw, shaddup!"

"Hey, don't yell at her!" Judy scolded.

"That was the cub? Sorry, kid. I thought that was the bunny."

"Hey!" Yelled the gruff voice of a bear above, silencing everyone in the bunker. "We know you're in there! Come out with your hands up!"

Nick looked down once again at the water, which was two inches away from the outlets. "We'll be happy to do that, once you take care of our little flood problem!"  
"What the fuck are you talking about?" The bear asked.

"Someone is trying to kill us by flooding the basement with hosepipes. The water's going to reach the outlets in less than a minute, so we can't get to the ladder." Nick explained calmly. "If you'll be so kind as the remove the hosepipes pumping water into the six vents around the tree, I will be more than happy come out and talk to you."

"… And who is trying to kill you, exactly?' The bear asked.

"Stop the flood before it reaches the outlets, and then we'll talk."

There was a moment's silence, and then Judy heard the bear give orders to the other mammals. She, Nick, Finnick and Honey watched through the laptop as the wolves surrounded the tree, finding the vents hidden behind the fake poison ferns. They moved the leaves aside with the barrels of their guns and removed the pipes. One by one, the streams of water pouring from the ceiling trickled to a stop. Judy looked down to see the water hadn't reached the outlets. She exhaled in relief.

They heard the bear speak again. "Okay, I don't know what that was all about. Get out here and start explaining."

Nick held his breath as he dropped down into the water. When he didn't seize up and scream in agony, he slowly walked over to the ladder with both paws raised and empty.

"Okay, I'm here." He looked up and gulped at what Judy assumed to be at least two machine guns pointing straight down at his face.

"Come on up." The bear said. "Slowly."

Nick glanced at the mammals still on the table, and started to climb. He climbed slowly, as the bear had ordered, his tail dripping water beneath him. The tail was the last thing Judy saw before he disappeared into the apartment. She and the others immediately looked back at the laptop to see Nick standing between the two bears, both of which were aiming their guns at his skull.

"Who else is down there?" The bear demanded harshly. "The Colombian Ocelots? Koslov?"

"Okay, you got me." Nick said. Judy couldn't fathom how he could sound and look so lighthearted. "We made it up so you could bust us outta that deathtrap."

The pause lasted so long Judy thought she was going to hear a gunshot at the end of it. "Why?"

"Why? Didn't I just say…"

"I mean why us? Why not the cops?"

"Because there are some cops who would rather kill us than let us reveal the truth."

"And why would they not want this 'truth' to come out?"

"Because if it did, TAME Collars would cease to exist."

This pause lasted even long than the first.

"Nick, what the hell are you doing?" Honey whispered.

The bear growled. "That does it. Tell us who else is down there. Right. Now."

"Woah, woah, easy!" Nick held his paws in front of him. "I'm not bullshitting, I swear!"

"Who. Else. Is. Down. There." Judy held her breath as the bear pressed the barrel of his gun into Nick's cheek.

"One badger, one bunny, one mini-fox, one cheetah cub and a baby sort-of-cheetah."

"What the hell are kids doing down there?"

"That, sir, is a loooooong story, and one your boss will want to hear with his own two ears."

The bear narrowed his eyes. Before he could respond, the bear behind Nick spoke up. "Come to think of it, the boss will be very interested to know how they got his personal email."

The first bear grumbled. "Fine. Tell your buddies that they have five minutes to come out, unarmed and paws empty, before I toss a grenade down there."

"Oh shit!" Finnick was the first to get off the table and grab the ladder. Honey snatched the telescope from Judy before she could react. "Put all the gear in the safe, hurry!"

"Will it survive the grenade?"

"We can hope."

Judy helped Honey toss everything they had gathered into the safe and shut it tight. Honey left it to Judy to escort Sherry up the ladder while she herself held Lance. The black bear pointed with his gun toward Nick, directing the mammals to gather around him.

"Anyone else down there?"

"Nope, that's everyone." Nick said after looking them over to confirm hit himself.

"If you're lying, it's their funeral." The bear gave a nod to the wolf in the room with them. Without a word the wolf pulled the pin off a grenade and tossed the ovular explosive into the bunker, pulling the hatch shut afterward. He quickly turned the handle and stepped back. Honey cursed under her breath as a muffled explosion followed seconds later, shaking the floorboards and kicking dust into the air.

It was a minute before the wolf was given the order to open the hatch, go down and investigate. Two minutes later, the wolf called up that the bunker was wrecked, but devoid of bodies.

"See? I am perfectly capable of telling the truth." Nick said. "Now will you take us to your leader?"

"Don't get cute, fox. You better hope the boss likes what you have to say." The bear snarled, his large form framed by the light of a streetlamp shining through the window behind him.

"Oh, he will." Honey said, putting herself between Nick and the bear. "Threaten us all you want, but trust me when I say that your boss is the least of our problems-"

The sentence was punctuated by the sharp _crack_ of fracturing glass and a explosion of red flaring out from behind the badger, soaking Nick's tasteful shirt. The badger's body followed the direction of the spatter, tumbling backward as the baby dropped from her arms. Judy was so stunned that she almost didn't lunge forward to grab Lance before he hit the floor.

Nick stared down at his fallen friend, his wide green eyes eventually turning to the stain spreading across the left side of his ribs. He dropped to his knees as the bears roared warnings of a sniper and fired back through the broken window. Sherry screamed and cried at the sight of the blood pooling beneath Honey Ryder. Finnick simply stared in horror, too dumbfounded to even curse.

As for Judy, all she could do was hold the wailing Lance and await the aftermath.


	31. Alyssa III

Alyssa first started her time in the filthy padded cell by trying to kick down the door, giving up after fifteen minutes and suffering two aching feet. It was a thick door with thick padding, a pothole and a slot near the bottom for dinner trays.

With the door proving too sturdy, she then started searching her padded cell for anything that could be used to pick the lock on the door. She'd run up the wall to grab the security camera high up in the corner, pulling it free and dismantling it in the middle of the floor. There was nothing in the camera that she could use, and even if there were, one peek through the keyhole revealed that her captors had left something stuck in the other side.

The third thing she did after that was kick the door one more time and curse whichever tosser had had the smarts to do that.

The fourth thing she did was sit on the floor next to the ruined camera and start breaking apart the plastic. It wasn't as sharp as glass or metal but it would have to do. She ripped up a sleeve with her teeth and wrapped it around one half of the shiv, and then watched the little pothole in the door. The pothole happened to be directly across from a bigger window giving her a clear view of the sky.

Hours passed. Night turned to morning. Alyssa began on her fifth activity since waking up in the cell; wondering why the hell no-one had shown up to deal with the fact that she'd broken their camera. With the keycard taken from Jack after their capture, the wolves would now be able to access the security room. So where were they now? Surely they'd give a crap if their prisoner broke the camera they were using to watch her?

Remembering the old nocturnal wolf stereotype, Alyssa decided she'd have to wait for night to fall again to see if these particular wolves lived up to the label. This did not bode well for the deadline. Thus began activity number six. With nothing to do but wait, she started thinking. First she thought about the dismal conditions of the cell. Without any open windows, the filth coating the walls seemed out of place. Even with the old bloodstains the rooms she and the others had explored hadn't been nearly as bad as this. Alyssa remembered an old article she'd read while researching the asylum for the mission. The staff hadn't been considered particularly abusive in the fifties, but their director had distrusted the humane treatments being developed during that time and stuck to isolation and starvation, lobotomies and Insulin Coma Therapies. They were only discovered and deinstitutionalized when word got out that the schizophrenic son of a senator had died within the asylum's walls, the result of a Trephination gone hideously wrong.

Feeling a chill, Alyssa started thinking about other things. Thinking about Jack, thinking about Gabe, thinking about the friends they'd left behind in Zootopia. She wondered how many of them were still alive.

Why had Cheryl cured Nick? The question popped in her head like a bubble in glass of soda when she thought about the fox, followed by more . Of all the savage predators that could have been given the antidote, why the owner of Wild Times? It was almost as curious as the mystery of how Wild Times had escaped Swinton's notice for so long?

Then it hit her. It hadn't. Wild Times hadn't escaped Swinton's notice. She and Pottermass had known, perhaps from the very beginning. So why did they eventually send Woolton to expose it?

It was because the original plan wasn't working out.

It all started with the endangered TAME Collar regulations. When City Hall started turning predators, they'd thought it would convince the government to avoid following in the Eweropean Union's footsteps and abolishing collars. Instead the convenient timing of the attacks coinciding with 'Congressional Research Service' Agent Jack Savage's investigation had aroused his suspicion. Instead of being in the clear, Swinton had become Jack's prime suspect. But she had already anticipated the possibility and devised a plan to divert Jack's suspicion elsewhere. That had been Wild Times's true purpose, to be a scapegoat for the source of the savage attacks.

Could Cheryl have given Nick the antidote and orchestrated his escape from ZPD custody to thwart Swinton's backup plan?

When Alyssa took a break from her thoughts, looked through the pothole and the window across the hallway, she saw that the sky was yellow, and the sun was low. She had to have been in this cell at least eighteen hours now, with no way of knowing if Jack and Gabe were okay.

For the seventh activity she decided to get the wolves' attention by other means; shouting. Shouting for food, shouting for water, shouting for answers. She pounded on the door despite the padding giving little in terms of noise compared to the incessant tapping of her finger on the pothole.

Something slammed into the other side, making her jump back from the door. Quickly tucking her plastic shiv in the back of her belt, Alyssa stared at the pothole. A motorcycle helmet rose into view, its visor scratched and marked.

"It's about damn time, too!" Alyssa snapped. "Where's the rest of my team? Answer me!"

The wolf didn't answer. Instead he or she slipped something through the tray slot and walked away. Alyssa warily approached the object, identifying it as a handheld tablet. She picked it up and switched it on. The background was a generic forest and lake, but the handwriting on the frame of the tablet case.

_WATCH ME._

Alyssa pursed her lips and started searching for videos or whatever the wolf wanted her to watch. She searched the files, and raised an eyebrow to see that it consisted almost entirely of videos. First the wolves captured her, then they kept her alive, and now they wanted her to start watching stuff on a tablet? What was going on here?

"Here goes." Alyssa touched on the file marked _ARRIVAL OF THE RED QUEEN AND HER COURT_.

Said file was twenty-one minutes long turned out to be security footage of the main entrance. The time and date was twenty-two hundred hours, nighttime, more than two years ago. Within a minute a black van drove up to the gates, which slid open almost immediately. The van turned so its rear doors were toward the entrance, and four guards strode out to greet it. They opened the doors and pulled out a gurney.  
"Cheryl!" Alyssa gasped when she saw the motionless tiger strapped to it. It was her, she was certain of it! What had those bastards done to her?!

According to the date, she had arrived at the asylum nearly two weeks after she had left to investigate the death of Dr. Cogsworth. "Two years of chasing scraps…" The vixen growled, her claws digging into the tablet's case. "I'll find you if it's the last thing I do."

As she spoke, the footage changed. It was the same camera, but the screen was lighter. The time and date was thirteen hundred hours, three weeks after Cheryl's arrival. Just like the first footage, a black van drove up to the main entrance, dropping off the unconscious, massive form that was Sedor Valentino, dressed in a nice suit. Alyssa recalled reading in Llater's report that Sedor had disappeared while on his way to his godson's birthday party. One by one Alyssa watched the missing predators on the list be brought to the asylum, each time in that unmarked black van. The film ended after the arrival of Gabe and Starlight.

"You trying to make me feel sorry for you?" Alyssa yelled at the door. If the wolf was still out there, he didn't answer. Alyssa sniffed the air, but got nothing but damp.

_Taptaptap._

The metallic knocking was quiet, but made Alyssa's ears stick up on end. "Alice?" Someone whispered.

Cheryl froze at the nickname. "Cheryl?"

"Sorry, wrong kitty." Gabriel Mossberg said. "And I'm not that pitiful."

Alyssa scrambled to her feet and jumped up so she could grab the bottom of the pothole. She pulled herself up so she could look through and see Gabe looking back at her.

The feline ducked down for a minute, and Alyssa heard him fiddling with the lock. "They stuck some kind of clay in the keyhole." Alyssa was about to curse when he added, "Hold on, it's in some kind of plastic bag. If I pull carefully…" Alyssa heard a rustling sound. "There. Now if only I knew how to pick a lock."

"Gabriel, for fuck's sake!"

"Sorry, sorry! I'll just put it back so the wolves won't know I've been here."

"You do that." Alyssa said snidely, leaning against a wall. "How did you get out your cell?"

Gabe's fur looked matted and dirty, like he'd taken a dip into a garbage can. "Funny thing is, I never made it to a cell."

"What do you mean?"

"It was when those wolves ambushed us. I managed to avoid getting zapped, but then one of them cut me with a poison scalpel."

"Poison scalpel?"

"I fought them off and retreated, with the idea to take them out using stealth mode, but a couple minutes after I took cover in a garbage can, I found that I couldn't move. Whatever was on that scalpel had rendered me almost completely paralyzed."

"Jesus Christ. I'm actually glad I got the Taser."

"Yeah, yeah, lucky you. If it wasn't for all the other crap, those wolves would have smelled me out. The poison only lasted about a day, thank God. I started looking for you two as soon as I was able to move again."

"Where's Jack?" Alyssa insisted.

"In another cell, still immobilized. The wolves must have used the same toxin on him after the initial tazing. It shouldn't last too much longer, so don't worry about it. Wait, what's that you're holding?"

Alyssa held up the tablet. "This? One of the wolves gave it to me before you showed up. I think they're trying to make me sympathetic to their cause."

"Or they want you to know the truth so you can pass it on to your bosses." Gabe said. "It would explain why you and Jack are still alive."

Alyssa gazed down at the tablet and realized that Gabe was right. It always came down to the truth, didn't it?

"I'm going to go look for the key and your gear." Gabe said. "Meanwhile, you should keep watching that tablet. It may have answers as to what happened to Starlight and Slothfeld." Gabe fell quiet after that.

Alyssa put a paw on the door. "Gabriel. Starlight's not acting under her own free will. You know this."

"I just wish I knew where she is now." Gabe said.

"We'll find her, and Koslov's son, I promise. Go find that key."

Alyssa heard no response, and she knew that Gabe was already gone.

She turned her attention back to the tablet in her paws and started scrolling around for any files that could provide the answers she sought. Twelve files, she counted, and decided to start in order. _SUBJECT #1 INTERROGATION_, the second file was named. There was no audio on this file either, but it showed a bare room that Alyssa hadn't seen yet. What she saw made her breath catch in her throat.

Cheryl was kneeling on the floor, bound and bleeding, with two guards standing over her. A third mammal, a rhino in a TUSK uniform, was standing in front of her, his fists as bloody as her face. There were three other mammals in the room; a bull in a white researcher's coat, Dr. Slothfeld, and the late Assistant Mayor Woolton. Two of those mammals seemed to be enjoying the rhino's interrogation methods a little too much.

Alyssa stabbed the screen with her finger, stopping the film just as the rhino raised his blood-spattered fist. She couldn't watch this. Just watching Cheryl's frozen, bruised and bloody face on the screen made the vixen want to find a ton of C4 and wreck this asylum for what it did to her mentor.

Alyssa was about to watch the third file when she took notice of the name of the last file: _FOR ALICE._

Alyssa tapped on the file.

Instead of more security footage, the file had been recorded with an ordinary camera. It started with someone adjusting the camera, their black chest almost completely blocking the lens. Then they backed away and sat down on the desk in the darkened Director's Office, allowing Alyssa to see their face.

"Cheryl." Alyssa whispered.

Cheryl was wearing the black coat worn by the gas-masked killer that had single-handedly wiped out Mr. Big's goons at the Arctic House, the hood pulled over her head. Her eyes glowed red in the glare of an unseen bright light.

_"__Alice." _Cheryl spoke evenly, her calm tone not matching her haggard appearance at all. _"Alice. If you are watching this, then you have fallen into our hands. It would have been better if you had never come to Zootopia, but there is nothing I can do about that now. Other than, of course, keeping you here where you can't get yourself killed trying to stop me from going through with my plans."_

Alyssa's grip nearly broke the tablet in half. "Why?"

_"__I know you like starting new things from the beginning. Even the Marmotchef series… all twenty-six of them. That means you will have watched the other eleven videos preceding this one. If you haven't, then what the hell is wrong with you?"_

Alyssa laughed quietly.

_"__Alice, we've been friends for a long time."_ Cheryl went on. _"So I'm hoping that after all this time you still care about what has happened to me. If you've watched the other videos, which you should have, then I hope you got the answers you sought."_

Alyssa nodded, her eyes feeling damp. Somehow she knew she wasn't going to like what was on the other videos.

On the screen, Cheryl's expression changed, turning sorrowful. _"Alice, listen carefully. I may seem sane now, but the next time we meet I may be a very different mammal than the one you knew. That flat faced cu… Dr. Slothfeld… injected me and the other predators with a serum as part of the experiment. But this serum is different than the one being used in the savage attacks in Zootopia. It-" _Cheryl paused, scrunched her eyes shut and rubbed her temple. _"The serum is derived from a rare plant known locally as Nighthowlers. It looks like a pretty blue flower with five petals, but anyone who ingests it will become aggressive. Very, very aggressive. On Swinton's orders Slothfeld developed two different types of serum from the flower. One is so potent that a tiny vial can render a lion completely feral. The other invokes a little-known disorder known as the Twilight Phenomenon. What that means is that in very rare cases, a victim of Nighthowler will not go savage. Instead they will lose most if not all their inhibitions, essentially becoming a psychopath. They possess violent tendencies, but still retain their ability to speak, and are capable of things like using weapons, opening doors, and formulating strategies. This makes them, in many ways, far more dangerous that their savage counterparts. It was the second serum Slothfeld used on us."_ Cheryl looked slightly downward, eyes darkening as they moved out of the light. Alyssa sensed raw violence radiating from the feline, even though she was just an image on a screen.

_"__I can feel it."_ Cheryl spoke, gritting her teeth for a moment. She lifted her naked, crimson red paws as she looked down at them. _"I can feel Twilight clawing its way back into my brain. Every day it gets harder. Part of me welcomes it. Don't try to save me, Alice. It may already be too late. Just make sure Slothfeld pays. Expose him. Expose Swinton and every other bastard who's a part of this. Find the truth of their legacy, and then burn it to the ground."_

Cheryl stood up and reached toward the camera. From Alyssa's perspective it looked like she was reaching out to touch her. The screen went blank, just like the face of the vixen's reflection.

"You're wrong." Alyssa said. "It's not too late. I can't condone what you've done, I _will_ find a way to help you. And if I can't…" She looked again at the file named _SUBJECT #1 INTERROGATION_. "God help the cocksucker that did this to you."


	32. Nick V

"You never wanted my friendship." Mr. Big spoke. "And now you fear to be in my debt."

Nick said nothing, nor did he give his head a nod or a shake.

"Is that why you won't talk?" Mr. Big asked.

Nick remained silent. All he could see in front of him was Honey lying in a pool of dust and blood, a hole in the middle of her back. Even the polar bears that surrounded the room like a jury of executioners were paid no heed, nor the wolf and fox that stood on either side of the desk.

The shrew sighed. "Still in shock, I see. Vito, lend a paw, will you?"

Vito the Vulpine, a short fox with slicked back fur and a cobalt blue suit, walked to the middle of the office and slapped the disheveled, bandaged fox sitting silently in a chair. Noticing the sting of the blow, Nick looked around at the stony-faced bears before locking eyes with the deceptively diminutive shrew, despite seeing nothing but bushy black eyebrows above a long snout.

"Let's try this again." Mr. Big said. He tapped a foot on the edge of the fake Gazelle CD lying on the desk by his swivel chair. "What is so important about this disk that you and your friends would almost lose their lives for it?"

Nick bit his lip, feeling the bandages covering his torso. Honey was still being seen to by Mr. Big's personal surgeon in an undisclosed location. For all he knew the badger had already died on the table.

"Nicholas." Mr. Big said sternly. "As per your and Mr. Corroux's request, I agreed to have your friend taken care of in exchange for the truth. I'm still waiting."

Nick opened his mouth and told the truth. What else could he do? "It's a long story, sir, and it might take a while to get to the disk bit."

"I'm patient mammal, Mr. Wilde. Start talking."

Nick told him everything. He started from what they knew about the savage attacks, and the fake wolf behind it. He told them that Assistant Mayor Woolton had been the first wolf, and was replaced by an assassin called Doug Ramses after his death. He told the shrew about Dr. Slothfeld, and the true nature of the unmarked blue disk resting inside the CD case.

"The disk is encrypted, and Slothfeld is the only one who knows how to get in." Nick finally said. Mr. Big continued to listen, having said nary a word since the fox began. "Our friends went to go find him, but we lost contact nearly two days ago."

"And this Doug Ramses." Mr. Big said, giving no indication as to whether he believed Nick's story. "He assaulted your friend's bunker in an attempt to retrieve this disk?"

Nick swallowed a lump in his throat. "I don't know if he knows we have it. It's more likely he was trying to silence me because I know too much."

"What about your friends? The badger? The bunny? Finnick? The children? Do they know too much?"

Nick nodded. "What have you done with them?"

"They're safe." Mr. Big said, his reassuring tone not assuring Nick at all. "My friends are questioning them as I am questioning you now. You can see them when I decide you can see them."

Nick curled his tail around his legs. "Yes, sir."

Mr. Big's eyebrows shifted slightly, as they would when one narrows their eyes. Nick shivered, dreading whatever was going to happen next. "Now that we've got the truth out of the way, let's decide what to do with you. Vito, tell us of his transgressions."

Vito read out loud from a notebook. "Transgression One: Two bears were sent to discuss a business deal with you, but were sent back with broken noses and fractured ribs. They reported that your bodyguard was responsible for those injuries." Nick felt another wave of nausea surge through his gut. Vito kept talking. "Transgression Two: In the process of escaping the police, you and the bunny cut a swathe of destruction through the streets of Little Rodentia, endangering the lives of the boss's daughter, son in law, and granddaughter." Mr. Big nodded slightly, never taking his hidden eyes off the terrified fox. "Transgression Three: you and Finnick led a group of Koslov's soldiers straight to a gathering of the Don's top enforcers. All of them were whacked in the firefight that ensued." Vito tucked the notebook away, his face impassive. "That's everything, boss."

Mr. Big's collar beeped yellow. "Thank you, Vito. Go check on Miss Ryder's condition while I deal with this fox."

Vito left, giving Nick the slightest look of pity on his way. Nick thought of how he would get iced for the crimes the other fox had listed. Would he get an ice pick in the vital organs, or did the shrew have a more literal icing in mind?

"Well?" Mr. Big said coldly. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Nick swallowed again. Between him and the desk lay a vintage red rug that felt colder beneath his feet than it ought to be. If he couldn't hustle his way out of this, perhaps his friends would stand a better chance.

_Alright, Sir Con-a-Lot. This is it. Give it all you've got._

"Sir, while I understand your displeasure at the injuries your two bears have suffered, it isn't fair to hold me responsible for what happened at the clinic."

Mr. Big cocked his head. "And why is that?"

"My security guard arrived right after your… _employees_ did. She tried to get them to leave peacefully, which I must stress is part of her job. In fact she didn't even technically work for me. She worked for my investor, Mr. Pottermass from Zoocell. Anyway, they started getting aggressive to her. She acted in self-defense and drove them off before I even had the chance to respond to their offer."

The wolf frowned, leaned over and spoke curtly in Mr. Big's ear. "They did say they never got an answer from him, Boss."

The shrew made a quiet noise of contemplation. "Let the fox continue."

Nick sucked in air. _Round One to me. Don't screw this up, Nick._ "As for what happened in Little Rodentia, me and Carrots-"

"Who?"

"Sorry, nickname. Me and Officer Hopps never intended to endanger your family, sir. We didn't even know they live in Little Rodentia."

"They don't. They had been visiting friends at the time of the incident." Mr. Big said. "The only reason I'm letting you live long enough to state your case is that none of them had been harmed. As for the bunny that will be discussed…"

"Forgive her, sir." Nick beseeched, staring at the shrew. "Officer Hopps never intended any harm to them. She's the last mammal in Zootopia who would hurt them."

For just a moment, Nick saw a flash of grey iris beneath those thick eyebrows. "For a fugitive, you seem very keen on having the officer's life be spared."

"Sir, we need her." Nick said, switching tactics. He had to be careful not to sound too slick. _Be confident, but show respect, just like you did to get Koslov's investment. _"Zootopia's going to hell, and she might be our best shot at fixing things."

"She's a rookie regarded as little more than a token. What good could she do?"

"The Red Queen seemed to disagree."

He heard subtle sounds surrounding him and looked up at the bears. They were trading glances and whispers, having evidently heard of this Red Queen. Mr. Big suddenly leaned forward in his chair. "I've heard of this woman. Rumors say that Sedor Valentino has allied with her. They have killed my men. What do you know of her?"

"Not much, only that she's behind the terrorist attacks." Nick said. He didn't want to think what Alyssa would do if he gave away the Red Queen's name and possible location to a vengeful mob boss. "She helped me escape the police and Koslov's hideout. I've had no part in the attacks, so I don't know why she did it. But she seems to think that me and Hopps stand a chance of exposing the truth behind the savage attacks and putting an end to the TAME Collars. That's why she's doing this, to reveal the truth. She's given demands for the Mayor to confess before she poisons the city's water supply, but it doesn't seem like those demands are going to be met."

Mr. Big's lips twisted in his agitation. "She sounds certifiable."

"You don't know the half of it, sir." Nick said. "Let me ask you a few questions."

The wolf scowled, but Mr. Big gave him a stern look to keep him from responding. "Ask."

"How did the Red Queen kill your men?"

Mr. Big paused. "Single handedly."

"And did you know that she and Sedor not only killed a psychiatrist working for Dr. Slothfeld, but the Assistant Mayor of Zootopia himself?"  
"… I did." Mr. Big talked and looked cool as ever, but there was an undercurrent of unease that Nick swooped in to take advantage of.

"Then you know the position we're in. She's a one-woman killing machine, and she's got friends who are just as dangerous-"

Mr. Big waved a paw. Nick felt the chair disappear as a bear lifted him into the air, agonizing the wound beneath his bandages. "Just as dangerous as you, who is responsible for the deaths of my top enforcers. Do you think I am a fool? You tried to misdirect me away from your own offences, and you failed. The Red Queen is a matter that I will handle myself."

Jaw set with pain, Nick watched as the wolf pulled at the rug, revealing a trap door. "No, you can't!"

Mr. Big leaned back in his chair. "And why not? What you've done cannot go unpunished."

Nick actually felt the blood drain from his face. _Finnick… Honey! _"You can't handle the Red Queen!" He yelled. "Not with the losses you've suffered! Sure, I got a few enforcers killed, but Koslov has killed dozens of your men already! The Red Queen used a literal army to commit her attacks, so what the hell makes you think you can take her on? You don't even know who or where she is, or if she's capable of doing far worse than terrorizing an entire city!"

Nick clenched his fists. His chest heaving. Mr. Big actually looked stunned. Nick had to calm down, or Mr. Big might just ice him for shouting in his office. "I have no defense for what I did to your enforcers. I used them to distract Koslov's bears while I made my escape, and they died for it. But with Officer Hopps and that disk, I may be able to make it up to you, just a little."

"Go on." Mr. Big said simply.

"That disk contains the truth the Red Queen is after. The Red Queen thinks me and Hopps can help her unlock it. I don't what she'll do to you if you kill us."

"That's it? You ensure she spares my life in exchange for my sparing yours?" Mr. Big sounded skeptical.

"That's not all." Nick said, his voice inhibited from his collar digging into his throat. "If the truth is exposed, the government will likely have the TAME Collars abolished, just like Ewerope did a few years back. Your family won't have to worry about getting shocked anymore, and your granddaughter might never wear a collar at all. You can't deny that would be one hell of a bonus."

Mr. Big scratched his chin. "It would." He admitted.

"It could also give you leverage against Koslov. We both know you didn't make Valentino disappear. You could prove it and negotiate a ceasefire. No-one else would have to die."

Mr. Big looked around at the gangsters in the room.

"And you might even learn the identity of the Red Queen." Nick felt sick with guilt even before he said it. He hoped to God Alyssa never found out. "If you let us go, we can stop her before she follows through with her threats. Zootopia's your home, Mr. Big. Two thirds of it is your empire. Is killing a few mammals worth jeopardizing everything you've ever cared out?"

Mr. Big gazed down at the Gazelle CD. For a while, he said nothing. The jurors surrounding him remained silent as well, holding their defendant high above the floor. The wolf remained beside the trapdoor, which appeared to be emanating a frigid draught. Every eye was on Mr. Big, waiting for judgement to be passed.

"How long until the Red Queen makes good on her threat?" He asked.

"Two days. The deadline is midnight."

Mr. Big drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair and made a decision. "Put him down."

The bear lowered the fox and released him before getting back in line with the others.

"I always wondered what Gabriel was up to when he wasn't working for me. I am happy to finally get the truth." Mr. Big said. "I will allow you and Officer Hopps to go and rejoin him, so that we may finally be able to straighten out this _pazzia_."

_Son of a bitch, I did it!_ "Thank you, sir. I won't let you down!"

"However…" Mr. Big held up a finger. "Finnick, Honey and the children will stay here. As insurance. Make good on your promises before the Queen's deadline, and they will be returned to you."

"Gabe won't like you keeping the kids, sir." Nick tried to look on the bright side as he spoke. With one of Zootopia's biggest bosses watching his friends, it would make it harder for Doug to get to them.

"That is for him and me to discuss. I will have the bunny brought to you, and then you will be free to leave." Mr. Big said.

"Sir, I can't leave until I know if Honey is okay." Nick said.

Mr. Big squinted at Nick, or at least the fox thought he squinted. "Then you may not be leaving for quite a while. I heard she was hurt very badly."

The cold gnawing sensation in Nick's stomach lingered as he sat back down on the chair, no longer able to hold back the memories of that horrific event. He'd collapsed to his knees, clutching what at the time everyone had assumed to be a lethal wound to the abdomen by a 7.62×54mmR bullet fired by a Dragugnaw sniper rifle, seeing nothing but Honey lying crumpled in a bloody heap in front of him. He remembered nothing else, not even the bullets flying around him or baby Lance screaming in Judy Hopps's arms. He did remember being dragged into a black car afterward, jammed into the backseat in between two wolves along with Judy, Finnick, Lance and Sherry. Judy had passed Lance into Sherry's arms so she could help Nick, and it turned out that the bullet had grazed his ribs, mercifully missing all his vital organs. Sherry, sobbing in fear, had asked where Honey was… and Nick lost it. He'd spent the entire drive to Mr. Big's mansion sobbing in Judy's arms, barely feeling her paws patting his head and applying pressure to his wound. He did remember her soothing voice, even if he couldn't remember the words.

Benjamin was hurt, missing, possibly dead. Honey was hurt, missing, possibly dead. And Nick was partly responsible.

The door opened, and Judy was escorted into the office, unkempt but unharmed. Nick watched silently as Mr. Big spoke with her, explaining the arrangement he had made and calmly warning her what would happen if she said anything to the ZPD. It was some time after that when Vito returned. Nick stared intensely at the other fox, reading his expression. Vito was infuriatingly composed as he stepped up to Mr. Big's desk.

"He said that the badger should make it, but..."

"But what?" Nick demanded, cutting Mr. Big off. The shrew paid no mind, waiting for Vito to finish.

"… the bullet hit her spine when it passed through her. She'd have to go to a real hospital to know for sure, but she'll probably never walk again."

"Ah." Mr. Big said. He looked first at the stunned bunny, then the emotionally devastated fox sitting on the chair. "That is unfortunate."

Nick managed to keep it together as he gained permission from Mr. Big to see Finnick and the kids to tell them what was going on. Judy did Nick another favor by taking it upon herself to tell Finnick what had happened to Honey. "Huh. Well, shit. She didn't do a lotta walking anyway." The fennec managed to keep it cool, but Nick knew it wouldn't last. Finnick's collar shocked him twice before they left him to see the kids. They didn't tell Sherry the details of Honey's condition.

"Will she be okay?"

"Er… I… yes, yes she will." Judy said, holding back tears. "We need to go now, sweetie, so we can help Gabe find the bad sloth."

"You'll stop the other bad guys too, right?" Sherry asked, hugging Lance as he gurgled in her arms. "Promise."

Nick managed to smile. "Promise. We'll be back with Gabe soon. You'll be a good girl and look after his baby until then, right?"

Sherry nodded. "I'll be the best babysitter ever."

A few minutes later their stuff was returned to them, along with the disk, and then they were escorted to a waiting car. Nick stared out the window at the large mansion as the car took off through the snow-shovelled road, and promised himself that this would be the very last time he made a deal with a devil.


	33. Elba IV

Elba was no coward. He never liked to hide. That made it more difficult for him to refuse Chief Trunchbull's request.

Apparently, it started after a relative of Bonnie Hopps had arrived to pay for Stu's bail. Apparently rabbit and his wife had set out to their daughter's apartment as soon as they were released; barely half an hour passed before they came charging back through the rotating glass door demanding the whereabouts of Judy Hopps. The Precinct One receptionist had made the call to Chief Trunchbull, who then under intense duress had made the call to Commissioner Elba, the last mammal to see Hopps before she left the precinct.

_"__Are you sure you can't come back to sort this out?"_ Trunchbull sounded on the verge of begging as Bonnie and Stu railed in the background.

"No, I can't. I don't know where Officer Hopps went after she left the building, I'm sorry."

_"__You can't come back to personally tell this to her parents? Not even for five minutes?"_

"The city is at war, Trunchbull! I can't just drop everything for pair of rabbits that don't know when to back off!"

_"__Would you like me to tell them that, sir?" _Trunchbull did not appear to relish the prospect.

Elba pinched the bridge of his nose. "Tell them that's she's doing her part to help the city and police protocol prevents you from telling them what she's doing."

_"__And if they don't accept that answer?"_

"Then remind them that this isn't just about their oversized family and show them the door!" Elba ended the call and slammed the phone on the table beside the couch.

He would regret his harshness later, he was sure, but he had been stuck in this luxurious panic room for nearly thirty-six hours, and his patience had almost run out.

He didn't know for certain what had prompted Mayor Swinton to summon Elba, Llamadeus and Pottermass to the lounge and order them to stay put until further notice, but he had a couple of theories. The first was that the losses of Dr. Lemming, Assistant Mayor Woolton and Mr. Bisoniing had Swinton worried about the rest of her little group. The second theory concerned the ZBI. The conspiracy to silence Dawn Bellwether's inflammatory accusations had came too late to prevent the ZBI's suspicions from being aroused, and Swinton had eventually received a tip that they were attempting to get a warrant to bring her and Pottermass in for questioning. But the Swintons were powerful, more powerful that most mammals realized, and so far the ZBI had been stonewalled. The fact that Elba and the others were being confined in the panic room, however, had the water buffalo wondering if Swinton felt that stonewalling wouldn't be enough.

There was a slurping sound across the Purrsian rug, as Pottermass sucked the last of his Horn Island Iced Tea through a silver straw. A nearby music player was quietly purring a ballad Elba didn't know but Pottermass seemed to enjoy. "The talk with the Bunnyburrow hicks went well, I take it?"

"I didn't talk to them. Trunchbull did." Elba said. "Otherwise, not at all. How's your head?"

Pottermass touched the bandage with a hand wet with condensation. The sleeve of his pink suit was damp, too. "Little sore. What do you think Llarry Longneck's doing over there?"

Llamadeus was sitting near the minibar in the corner, completely focused on the laptop Swinton had provided for him. It was pure black, almost as flat as an I-paw, and a model Elba wasn't familiar with.

Pottermass didn't say anything. Instead he took his empty glass and partly staggered over to the mini bar. He stared over the oblivious Llama's shoulder as he refilled his glass before returning to the couch opposite Elba. The buffalo scowled as he watched the hippo tilt the long glass over his massive jaws. The alcohol splashed over one of the thick, pointed tusks before settling on the tongue.

"Work." Pottermass said bluntly after draining half the glass. "Swinton's probably making 'im do work so the ZBI won't worry too much about 'im being gone."

Elba crossed the rug and prized the glass from Pottermass's grip. "I think you've had enough for one night. You're starting to slur."

Pottermass shrugged and turned his body so he was lying fully on the couch. Elba sat down and started sipping from what was left of the glass. He'd never had a Horn Island Iced Tea before, and he realized he liked it. Pottermass yawned, his mouth opened nearly one-hundred and eighty degrees, and Elba paused mid-sip. Not just from the urge to mimic the yawn, but from the four enormous tusks that once again drew his attention.

"Why do you file your tusks like that, Pottermass?"

"Huh?"

"Your tusks. You're the only hippo I know who files them pointed."

"That's 'cause I don't file them at all." Pottermass said. "Most other hippos file them into harmless little stumps, but not me. I keep my teeth short the natural way."

"Natural way?"

"My teeth file themselves. I mean each other. Keeps them nice and sharp. Makes my associates think twice about screwing me over."

"I'll say. They look like they could go right through your jaw with one wrong move."

Pottermass smirked. "Once upon a time we'd use these bad boys in dominance displays. Made the underground fight pits we have today look like dainty soirees. There's an old rumor in my family that my great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great…"

"Grandfather?"

"… great, great grandfather disemboweled another hippo over a lady. Most think we're fat, goofy looking palookas who spend their days lounging around in a swamp, they don't know shit. I could come over their right now and crush that big melon of yours in one bite."

"Is that a threat?" Elba asked jokingly.

"Nope. Doesn't mean I wasn't kidding."

Elba drank some more Iced Tea and glanced at Llamadeus. He seemed to be engrossed with the laptop. _Dear Lord, he must really be in Swinton's doghouse. I've never seen him so diligent._

"What about rabbits?" Elba asked. "Would you call them dangerous?"

"In their own way. Those claws and buck teeth aren't just for burrowing and munching carrots all day long." Pottermass paused. "Pigs have strong jaws, too. And they can eat meat."

"Meat?"

"Never mind, just a silly fact I got off the internet. It's probably not even fact."

The music player switched to another track, one with a prominent violin. "Nothing we've told the public lately is fact. That's what it feels like, at least." Elba said.

Pottermass rolled his eyes. "Christ, you're not still bummed about what happened with Bellwether, are you?"

"I'm not okay with it. The city will be better off without her inciting riots, but I will never be okay with what you did to her."

"Get off your soapbox, Elba, she brought that on herself."

Elba felt a sudden urge to throw the glass across the room. "Listen, you arrogant little-"

"Arrogant? Why? Because I'm telling it like it is?" Potter turned his head to look directly at Elba, one of his tusks shining between his lips. "May I remind you of what would have happened to the elephant minority had we told the people that the elephant that almost killed Bogo had been in musth? They would have been ostracized. A fox may bite, steal your wallet or con you out of your life savings, but as far as I can tell they can't trample you to death. Or crush your car like cardboard. Or skewer you like a barbecued corn cob. Elephants are tolerated because they don't eat meat or go savage or do anything a predator does. If musth becomes public knowledge, all that changes. The same goes for moose, deer, bisons, rhinos, boars, peccaries, even buffalos." Pottermass pointed a fat finger at Elba, specifically his horns. "The clincher is _fear_, Elba. Nine times out of ten, one reason to fear someone is all it takes. That is why we hide the truth."

"You're saying that Captain Bogo brought his impalement upon himself?"

"Of course not! The problem is that he doesn't seem to understand that sometimes the truth is dangerous."

"He does, Pottermass. It's the hypocrisy he can't stand." Elba said. "You and the others dedicate your lives and enterprises to upholding the TAME Collar laws, and yet you just listed at least nine prey mammals that can be just as dangerous as predators."

"Eleven. There are at least three types of buffalos I know about." Pottermass said. "And I haven't even gotten to the little guys yet."

_Good God, he's still not finished._ "Just how much have you had to drink tonight?" Elba asked.

"Hell if I know." Pottermass said. "As I was saying, the smaller citizens of Zootopia aren't to underestimated either. Did you know that some rodents in our city are venomous?"

"Really?" Elba had overseen enough Little Rodentia cases to have an idea of which rodents his tipsy companion was talking about. "I know the platypus had spurs in inflict intense pain. Shrews have toxic saliva, but not nearly potent enough to affect a mammal of our size."

"Ahhh, for mammals of _their_ size or smaller, that's an entirely different matter." Pottermass said, grinning. "Moles are venomous, too. Like shrews, moles use their venom to paralyze something small and edible, like say, a worm, and store their prey alive for future consumption. I read about that during the Rodentia Ripper Case."

Elba grimaced. "I'd rather not talk about that case, Pottermass."

"Sorry. Anyway, imagine if that shrew or mole was the size of, let's say, a wolf. A lion, even. A bite or two could bring down a rhino."

"Okay, now I'm positive you are drunk. There is nothing on earth that could allow a shrew or mole to grow to that size." Elba paused and looked down at his glass. There was a sizeable amount of alcohol still. Pottermass was still sober enough to be coherent, but perhaps…

"You know what? I'm being selfish. Why don't I top this up and pour you another glass?"

The hippo shrugged. "Just do me a brandy. You may be a brilliant officer, but you're shit at cocktails."

Elba discreetly checked on Llamadeus again as he returned to the bar and fulfilled Pottermass's request. The llama was still completely focused on his laptop. Elba returned to the couches with two full glass and handed one to Pottermass. God forgive him for doing something so devious, but what he had to lose what too important.

"I think I know what you mean." Elba said, continuing the conversation while Pottermass drank. "Mammals can be so naïve about things that are different from them. Back when the Rainforest, Canals and Meadowland districts were first built, the designers used plants and flowers that were poisonous, but they picked them because they look good."

Pottermass's eyes lit up suddenly. "Jurassic Park made that same mistake. _Serenna Veriformans_, it was. I zoogled it after I read the book, but it turns out the author made it up."

"Intriguing. Anyway, it took a few deaths for the designers to realize their blunder and fix it. It's why those districts are so green, nowadays. Maybe that's why the Red Queen and those other terrorists are doing all this. To make us realize that the TAME Collar is a blunder that need to be fixed. They do appear to cause more incidents than prevent them."

"It needs upgradin'." Pottermass said with a noticeable slur. "That's not the same as fixin'."

"You're talking about the new collar, right? You still haven't told me what it does."

"It's a helluva lot more effective than shocking, I'll say that much."

Elba leaned forward. "What else can you say?"

"It eliminates the need to shock a pred at all. Why worry about them getting angry and causing trouble when you can use the collar to tell them not to get angry or cause trouble? That's what the collar does, Ellie. It makes a predator behave the way we want it to."

_Mind control? He cannot be serious. _"Forgive me if I say that's crazy, because it is."

"Yeah, I know it's sci-fi-funky shit. But this guy, some genius engineer called Cogswart or whatever, pulled it off a few years back. He's dead now, but Swinton's got another squint tweaking out the flaws until it's ready for Zoocell to mass-produce."

"You mean Slothfeld, right?" Pottermass nodded. "I don't understand why he'd be leading the project. His field is chemistry."

"Yeah, I don't know all that much about it either. Apparently, the collars make predators a bit too zombieish, so Slothfeld's working on a little extra something to fix that."

Elba took a long drink of brandy. If Pottermass confirmed what he was beginning to fear, he was going to need it. "And just how did Slothfeld discover this crucial flaw?"

"Same way my company finds flaws in all its products. Testing."

"On _what_?"

"Predators. What else?"

Elba's mind went blank. He managed to pull himself together enough to be quiet as he growled, "You bastards."

Pottermass's ear flicked upward. "Pardon?"

"Nothing." Elba said quickly, feeling momentarily relieved that Llamadeus didn't appear to have heard him either. "This wouldn't have anything to do with our missing mammal cases, would it?"

Pottermass nodded. Elba sent another prayer to God. "You don't mind if I ask about a couple of missing mammals that aren't on the ZPD's list?"

"Knock yourself out."

"Starlight Foxtrot and Gabriel Mossberg. They're tourists that were reported missing almost a year ago."

Pottermass stroked the rim of his glass, thinking. "Yeah, they're on Slothfeld's list. Cunninghorn took 'em 'cause we found out they're spies."

Elba almost choked on his brandy. "Cunninghorn?!"

"Yeah, I thought he seemed a bit too loco to be in on our little conspiracy. Turned out we were both right. It's like Ol' Theo learned nothing from Roarcadia."

Elba need a minute to cool off his anger, not just at Cunninghorn but also himself. He'd heard to police brutality reports going missing, and the already miniscule effort to find the missing predators turning up zero leads. He'd known that Cunninghorn wasn't fit to run a fight club, let alone a TUSK squad.

_That son of a bitch! How could I not have realized?!_

"Tilda… the mayor told me this whole thing was her father's idea." Elba said, pushing a calm manner through expertly suppressed rage.

"Yeah. He and his grandfather had this whole thing planned when they took over Roarcadia. All hush-hush and zipped lips, but I do know that they had planned to eventually make that island an independent country."

That was news to Elba. "Isn't that supposed to be impossible?"

"Nearly impossible, but nothing's impossible for a Swinton."

Elba believed that. "Why would they go to so much trouble?"  
"Now that, I don't know." Pottermass finished his glass and dropped it onto the rug. "But whatever it is, Theodore started it up again here in Zootopia. New and improved, he called it. I'm not allowed to tell anyone about it. Not even Merry." Pottermass became morose, seeming to sink slightly into the couch with the weight of his grief.

"You still miss her, don't you?" Elba asked.

"I hate it when I sweat. Fucking hate it. Have I told you that?" Pottermass spat. "When I get that red shit all over me, I think of what that fucking accident did to her. Fucking cheetahs."

"The Clawhausers weren't responsible, you know that."

"Makes me feel a little better that they're dead, too. I wouldn't cope if they lived. I just couldn't."  
"Pottermass, that's a terrible thing to say. They were innocent mammals, just like your wife, and now they're gone."

Pottermass stared up at the ceiling, eyes hardening even through the drunken haze clouding them. "Not all of them."


	34. Benjamin V

Two days Benjamin had spent hiding in the church basement from that hooded fiend. Twenty hours had passed since he had given in to his need for water and left his sanctuary.

Somehow, he was still alive.

The night he finally decided to leave, he spent a good while standing before the door with one paw on the handle before he had to nerve to open it. When he did, he grew even more anxious when he wasn't immediately set upon by that creature. Finnick and Honey had shown him enough horror films for him to know that silence, darkness and nothing were never a good combo. He'd ascended the stairs to the church above and crept through the stone path between the pews toward the exit. The ragged black makeshift curtains were still up, so the cheetah had only his flashlight to guide him. Still no creature. When he reached the doors and pushed one open, he saw that it was nighttime. Exactly what time it was he didn't have a clue. As for the date, he could only guess.

The doors had a keyhole, but without a key that little fact was useless. Besides, the creature was probably not even inside the church. Benjamin shut the door and reminded himself again to tell the police about the basement if he ever made it back to Zootopia. He wouldn't tell them everything he'd learned. They'd never believe it.

The clouds must have started pouring again at some point while he'd been in the basement, for the ground, walls and trees were dark with wet. Benjamin found water that had collected in an abandoned bucket beside at crumbling well, but he was still craving donuts. His stomach groaned when he set the bucket down on the edge of the well, making his heart pound with anxiety at the thought of wasting away in this ghost town. "Keep it together, you two." He muttered. He found obeying that little command was slightly easier after he discovered the treasure trove of evidence in that basement. No matter what, he had to get that information to Bogo and Honey. It could be the end of everything Cunninghorn, Slothfeld and their employers had set out to do.

He explored the area a second time, looking for something to remove the bar blocking the town gate, along the way discovering signs that he was no longer the only visitor in Swinetown. He'd returned to the mining elevator and saw that the button panel had been violently ripped off. There were prints in the soft mud, big ones warped into indiscernible puddles by rain. With his sucky luck of late, Sedor's prints were among them.

Benjamin was shocked when he returned to the gate with a broken shovel and found that the gate had been removed for him. The bar lay in two ragged pieces on the damp ground, bent nails sticking out like thorns. Benjamin looked beyond the gate, expecting to see a road leading into the forest. Instead he saw another part of Swinetown.

Benjamin dropped the broken shovel, threw his head back and groaned. "Evil conspiracies, mad scientists, crazy masked killers, monsters, and now more ghost town. I swear, if there's a blade-swinging Pyramid Head around the next corner…"

Nevertheless he pressed on, thinking about what he'd found in the basement.

Insidious. That one word summed up the lengths the Swintons had taken to cover up the truth about Roarcadia's fall. Honey had spent nearly a year of her spare time sharing conspiracy theories online, chief among them being that a nuclear meltdown had never occurred. Benjamin had been seventeen at the time, and impressionable enough to believe her claim that a tin had would keep the alien sheep from controlling his mind. He and Honey had read the messages together, several of them from acquaintances that had gotten their Geiger Counters close enough to Roarcadia to prove that there was no radioactivity in on the fringes of the city. Others had insisted that this proved nothing, as radioactivity would likely still be found closer to the power plant. The city was completely off limits, even to government officials, so there was no way to know which opinion was the right one.

Now Benjamin knew. There had been at least two reports in the basement concerning the meltdown, with one appearing to have been provided for one Thomas Swinton, written in a way that anyone who wasn't a physicist or an engineer could still understand. He had the report in his pocket right now, hoping that it would be enough to convince the ZPD.

_Steam production is critical to the nuclear reactor, as the steam runs the generator to produce electricity as well as remove some of the intense heat the reactor water carries…_

Benjamin hadn't known that, and like neither did Thomas, but he could imagine the infamously haughty pig scoffing with indignation at the investigator's presumption.

_… The intruder was accosted by armed guards in the pump room, who in the process of attempting to shoot the intruder damaged the pumps, causing a trip and stopping the flow of feedwater to R-1's steam generators. 'Trip' means a piece of machinery stops working…_

Benjamin noticed that this part of the town was larger, the buildings more closely built together, like the districts back at Zootopia. Perhaps this was where the town was expanded from the original settlement for the mine workers.

_…When the feedwater stopped, the steam also stopped. As a result the plant's safety system automatically shut down the steam turbine and electric generator. The temperature of the reactor coolant increased, and the rapidly heating water expanded…_

It started raining again. Benjamin stopped walking and stepped into the shelter of a porch. After a few minutes the rain had become a deluge. Benjamin needed to find a way out, but he wasn't desperate enough to risk a freezing, blinding rainstorm that seemed to be brewing up a lot lately. He entered the building, an empty dentist's, and sat down on a bench by the wall.

He looked out the window at the rain, smiling a little at the irony. He was waiting in a waiting room, for a rainstorm to end, without an appointment. And that wasn't even the strangest thing to happen to him.

_… 73 hours after the accident began, we have confirmed that the containment protocols were in this case successful in preventing the release of lethal radioactive material into the environment. We will continue to monitor the damage to the reactor over the next five weeks, though we suspect that a partial meltdown has occurred. I personally recommend completely shutting down the plant until a full investigation is completed. Afterward we should discuss how much of the report you wish to be released to the authorities..._

Honey had been right. Roarcadia wasn't radioactive. Discovering this hadn't made Benjamin feel better when he read it. If the radiation never escaped the plant, then what brought about the reports of mammals suffering disfigurements and radiation poisoning? He'd discovered the answer some time later, in another box of files, and swallowed back bile with every new thing he'd learned.

_… six subjects, 300, 306, 333, 341, 381 and 466 are unaccounted for. We believe they have escaped into the streets surrounding the plant, which are still being evacuated. We should be able to locate and eliminate them before any citizens see them. Any citizens that do see them will be dealt with according to T. Swinton's orders…_

Apparently those orders included reporting the sightings as disfigured victims or hallucinations brought about by ARS, and permanently silencing any mammals who tried to prove otherwise.

_… the polonium planted in the clinics' medical supplies and the considerable death count has provided sufficient evidence that lethal amounts of radiation have escaped into the city, just as T. Swinton anticipated. The city is now completely off limits to anyone who may be opposed to our cleanup operation…_

"That's pretty fucking sick." Benjamin said. He blinked, shocked at himself.

_… It's a pity really, that the project had to end this way. All those borrowed predators, all those discarded failures, all those tremendous successes, all for nothing._

_Theo came up with the idea after his latest proposal for ending the threat of predators fell on deaf ears. If he couldn't end their existence, he would at least make their existence more productive. An army of genetically engineered beasts, all under Roarcadia's command. The twilight of the dark ages. The last sunset before the dawn of the new global superpower. It would have been fantastic._

_Tilda's been getting on my nerves about the whole affair. She may never have condoned the project, but she could at least pretend that she'd not unhappy..._

When Benjamin had been done reading, he'd sincerely hoped that Thomas and Theodore Swinton had both died thinking of their sins. Even thinking about the things he'd learned made him weary. He lay down on the bench, staring up at the wooden beams that supported the roof.

_… I still can't believe it. The day I'm supposed to return to the states to continue my research, we discovered something tremendous. Before they were terminated, two of the experiments had mated. The juvenile was found in an abandoned apartment two blocks from the power plant. The guards, shockingly, did the smart thing and brought it in alive. When the juvenile was brought before Theodore, I was sure he was going to personally kill it on the spot. Instead he was so thrilled he couldn't even speak properly!_

_Even at its young age it is obvious the creature will grow to be a prodigious killing machine, with its agility, high intelligence and paralyzing venom. I can hazard a guess as to which subject the father was. The vat-grown monstrosity Subject 466, the one infused with mole DNA to encourage burrowing behavior, but instead developed toxic saliva. The one that escaped captivity and escaped into the nuclear power plant, triggering the fall of Roarcadia. And now its offspring is the last remnant of Project Twilight. It's fate. It has to be. Why else would its existence have Theodore so excited?_

Benjamin woke with a start. In the dream, Sedor had been too fast for him. Breathing heavily, he looked out the window. Without a watch, he couldn't tell if it was dawn or dusk, but the dirt street outside seemed empty. If there was anyone around, their prints and scent had long since been washed away. The droplets covering the glass shone like eyes of nocturnal creatures. He raised himself from the bench and left the dentist building.

The rain had become a light drizzle, with no effect on the cheetah's visibility, so he continued his search. The sky grew steadily darker as he looked for a way out of the town, which was surrounded by that seemingly endless wall of logs. A crescent moon was in the sky by the time he came across the Town Hall.

It was a plain building, pale blue in the darkness but white during the day, with two floors, a dozen windows and a clock tower with a missing minute hand. Benjamin stepped up to the entrance, going around a puddle that looked deep enough to wade in. There was something important about this place. He'd seen it mentioned in one of those documents in the basement. What was it?

_… He has decided to name the creature Subject 0, the first of the second phase of Project Twilight. It will be years before we are ready to restart the project, and when we do, my behavioral altering collar will be my ticket to the top position. Slothfeld, meanwhile, is being sent back to Boarland to continue the special project Theodore had commissioned him. I wish him luck, for Theodore's sake…_

The door was slightly ajar, the lock busted open. Benjamin shone his light inside the large hall. The red carpet draped across the floor between the benches was partly grey with dust.

Benjamin sniffed. There was something rotting, but it was very faint. Not faint as in distance, but in age. Whatever horrible thing had happened here had happened a long time ago. The hall, judging from the windows on every wall, seemed to encompass the entire building, except there was an open door beside the stage. There didn't seem to be anything else of interest here. Benjamin would check out the other room, then leave. He wished he could remember why the building had been mentioned in the files. He still had the key to that jeep in his pocket. If the mining elevator controls hadn't been busted he could be back at the other side of the mountain getting into that car by now…

Cable car!

Benjamin clenched the fist not holding the flashlight. That was it. The documents mentioned a cable car hidden under this building. He could have smacked himself for forgetting. All he had to do now was find it, and that door looked like his best bet.

On his way to the door the cheetah spotted something strange on one of the benches. It was some kind of metal net, two of the thick metal pins embedded in the wood. It looked a lot like one of the nets from that camp at the other end of the mine, the one with the rifles and the cage.

_… Unsurprisingly, Theodore has decided to leave his daughter in the dark. After the incident, she has stated in no uncertain terms that she intends to exterminate every single experiment, whether her father wants her to or not. It's pitiful that Theodore has so little trust in his own daughter, but she brought it on herself by not playing along. We'll keep it in the old town on Founder's Mountain for now, in the Town Hall hiding the cable car connecting the town to the asylum. She won't find it there…_

The room was a generic old-western office in a dozen shades of old. Cracked grey walls, drab brown floor, bookcase containing a single bible that hadn't been read in years, dented iron lamp, and a frayed, patchy red carpet with a heart pattern, dead body on the otherwise uninteresting wooden desk-

"O. M. Goodness." The cheetah whispered when he saw the skeleton on the desk, hacked in three pieces. The clothes were mostly black with camouflage combat pants, the shirt in complete tatters in the empty space where the ribs should be. A broken rifle hung by the trigger from one finger. A large cleaver lay on the desk beside the body.

"This happened ages ago. Sedor is long gone. You're safe." Benjamin repeated himself walked behind the desk, shining his light at any spot that could provide a clue. The beam froze on one of the marks on the desk; prints disturbing the dust covering one of the drawers. He pulled it open, thinking of the movies Finnick and Honey made him watch, and reached inside.

There was a heart-stopping click. The bible toppled onto its side as the bookcase slid open. Benjamin stared at the passage beyond, imagining the ecstatic fit Honey would throw had she been here to witness this. She'd jump through hoops for a mystery this big.

Benjamin stepped up to the passage and shone his light down the steel staircase. There was some kind of greenish blue glow at the bottom. Benjamin leaned into the darkness, seeing distant spots that could be electric lights-

He spun his head when the door opened, half-expecting Sedor.

The burly rhino with the study horn paused in the doorway, surprised to see him. Then those same eyes narrowed and he smiled gently. "There you are."

Benjamin felt every organ in his body lurch as the rhino stepped into the office toward him, forcing the cheetah to back away from the passage. "What, you thought I was dead? You know, I thought the exact same thing about you." With one bloodied hoof, Cunninghorn pushed the bookcase shut, causing the bible to fall in the process.

"St-stay back." Benjamin took a step back, fearing the look of hunger in the rhino's eyes. He looked like hell. There were bloody cuts on his sleeves, and his hooves and face were even worse. The face was the worst part. His curled lips wouldn't stop twitching, and his eyes were calm. Too calm. They were looking the cheetah's body up and down like a rapist's, but Benjamin sensed that he had a very different sort of pleasure in mind.

"Three days. Three days I've spent in this fucking forest, with no-one to talk to but myself. It's funny, isn't it? How much you take seeing another mammal for granted, let alone talking to one? Look at you. You've obviously had a better time of it."

"N-not entirely true." Benjamin stammered, recalling what Honey told him about psychopaths needing to be humored. Cunninghorn cocked his head, waiting for Benjamin to clarify. "Sedor's still hunting me. He's probably here in this town right now."  
"Well, too bad for him. Finder's keepers, you know how it is." Cunninghorn drawled. "How many crazies are in this town?"

"I don't know." It was the truth, sort of. "Why me? Why did I have to get dragged into this? All I did was see Woolton die."

Cunninghorn shook his head. "No, you saw the Jabberwock die. At least that's what I heard the psychos calling him. He was there to turn you savage, did you know that? Pottermass sent him personally. You remember what I told you about Pottermass and his wife. I see that face. You do remember. But then Sedor snuck in and mauled the stiff bastard before he could shoot a pellet in you. You saw what happened next. You saw Woolton in that stupid wolf costume, and if that info gets out, Swinton is screwed. That's why everyone's after you."

Benjamin stared at the rhino, shock momentarily overwhelming his fear. "So Nick really was telling the truth?"

"Bingo, give the pred a kewpie doll. But this isn't about Woolton anymore." Cunninghorn stepped closer to the cheetah. The cheetah stumbled back. "This is about you ruining my life, you stupid fucking chomper. If you'd just let that fucking buffalo die, I'd have let Sedor have you. Whatever he's got planned's got nothing on what I'm gonna to do to you."

Benjamin nearly tripped over the bible as he backed away, his lips and paws trembling with terror. "No. No, you don't need to do this!"

"You have no idea how much I need to, Benji. On the force, I thought I was able to truly be myself. I could do whatever the fuck I want to you chompers, Swinton would cover it all up and there was nothing Bogo could do about it. But now thanks to you, I'm a dead mammal. No badge, no extra paycheck, no overpowered mayor covering my tracks. Or so I thought. But three days all alone in the big bag forest gives you a lotta time to think. And I've been thinking, I wasn't able to truly be myself. Sure, I could beat the tar out of your kind without getting in trouble, but the chains were still there. Elba. Trunchbull. Fucking Bogo. They were all there to keep me in line. But not anymore. Out here, without the badge and all its fucking protocols holding me back, I'm finally free."

Benjamin glared at him. "Spoken like a true predator."

"Three days ago that'd piss me off, but I can't really argue with that. Sedor had his chance, sweetheart, and he blew it. You're all mine. Once I'm done with you, I'm gonna find and kill every chomper on this mountain." He paused. "In fact, I'll wait before killing you. I've got unfinished business with that bear. I think I'll bring him to you, make him understand just how badly he's lost, and then I'll kill you both."

Benjamin shook his head, backing into the desk and hearing a rattling sound from the cleaver as it tried to roll. "You can't seriously think you can take on that monster!"

"And don't even get me started on what I'm going to do to Bogo." Cunninghorn growled, his lips twitching as the vicious words came out. He reached out for Benjamin with both lacerated hooves. "I'm gonna make him scream, Benji. I'm gonna make him wish he never tried to protect you. In the end, you're both dead."

Anger, not panic, sent the cleaver swinging into Cunninghorn's face.

Cunninghorn reared back, his scream drowning out the sound of the cleaver's wide blade hitting the floor. Benjamin dropped the broken handle and was out the door before it hit the floor beside its missing blade.

"YOU LITTLE FAGGOT!" Benjamin heard the rhino bellow and the desk being thrown across the office as he fled across the large hall and out the front doors. "YOU LITTLE SHIT! YOU'RE FUCKING DEAD, YOU'RE DEAD!" He slammed them shut, in his terror forgetting the lock was broken, and staggered back into the deep puddle outside the Town Hall. Muddy, cold water splashed up his pants. He hesitated, staring at the doors, and they burst open. Benjamin remained rooted to the spot, frozen in horror when he saw what he had done with the cleaver.

The left side of Cunninghorn's face was a horrible mess. Cracked teeth stained with blood peeked out from behind the slash in his lip. The gash widened, meat and blood glistening, as he roared at the cheetah. "You're going to wish you were dead!"

"Screw you!" Benjamin took off down the street, somehow knowing where he needed to go. Cunninghorn thundered after him with heavy, splashing steps. In minutes Benjamin was through the town gates. He spun round, glimpsed Cunninghorn charging through a long-streaked puddle, clutching his ruined face, and pulled the doors shut. He picked up the shovel he'd dropped earlier and thrust it into the bars. There was no way it would hold.

There was a bang and the doors pushed against the shovel. "You're only making this worse for yourself, faggot!"

Benjamin was too busy running to the church to answer. He barged through the doors just has he heard a crunching sound as Cunninghorn broke through the gates. "Nice try, Benji!"

Benjamin shut the doors, wishing again that he had the key, and ran to the other end of the room. On the way he stepped on cloth instead of wood. He stopped and looked down. It was some kind of black cloth, made from the same material as the curtains. He saw the rope belt and realized what it was. But it was still partly light out. Subject Zero should still be here. The doors burst open, starling him into dropping the robe.

Outside of the rain, Benjamin could smell the blood dripping down Cunninghorn's ruined shirt. The rhino spat out the blood collecting in his mouth. "You stupid kid. This is a dead end!" The rhino shut the doors behind him and advanced, fists tight and hard as clubs. The inside of his lip looked black in the dim light of dusk. "You think God gives two shits about you? You're even dumber than you look! Prayer's not gonna save you here!"

"That's right, keeping shouting, you three-lipped assbutt!" Benjamin yelled back. He used anger to hide the fear of what was about to happen. He'd rather die being an idiot than give the rhino the satisfaction of listening to him beg for his life.

Cunninghorn punched him into the altar, knocking the cross to the floor. Benjamin's vision swayed as he fought to stay conscious, and then a massive foot kicking him in the ribs had him gasping for breath as well. Before he knew it Cunninghorn was straddling him with his massive body, blood dripping onto the cheetah's face.

"This changes nothing, bitch." He snarled as his thick hands wrapped around Benjamin's throat and squeezed. "When you wake up, you're gonna wish this was the end." He avoided the arteries in the sides of the neck, focusing all the pressure on the windpipe. The sick monster was dragging this out as long as possible. Benjamin struggled, tugging at the thick arms and kicking aimlessly, but he was no match for an insane rhino. A shape flashed across the rafters of the church, almost pure white against the black spots that were gathering in his vision.

Benjamin tried to imagine Nick looking down at him instead of Cunninghorn's awful, ruined face. He would never see the real Nick again, but he had to apologise somehow. He should have believed him about the wolf. He was sorry. He wanted to make things right.

"You're going to wish Sedor killed you when he had the chance." Cunninghorn was starting to smile when his face suddenly starting rising up out of Benjamin's fading line of sight and his hands came away from the cheetah's throat. What the…

It took a moment for Benjamin to feel the pressure around his ankle and realize that he was being dragged out from under Cunninghorn between the legs, the interfering mammal sending him skidding across the floor and smearing the spots of blood left by the rhino. Benjamin came to a stop when he hit one of the pews, hearing Cunninghorn cussing in between his own coughing and gasping.

There was a shout of pain from the rhino, and the cheetah looked up to see him clutching his shoulder. Cunninghorn removed his hoof briefly to examine the bite, then looked up at the rafters, eyes flashing with fury. "What's the matter, asshole? Don't I taste good?"

Something leapt past the rhino's legs, a bone-colored blur that left behind a bloody bite on one of the ankles. Benjamin wasn't going to wait to see when the venom would take effect. He rolled onto his front, biting his lip at the pain it caused to his body, and started to crawl.

Subject Zero came prowling from behind a pew, pale yellow eyes locking with Benjamin's. The eyes shone like glass spheres full of poison. Benjamin stared, transfixed, unable to tear his gaze away from the eyes to see what the rest of it looked like.

Subject Zero pounced, its four paws landing on the cheetah and flattening him to the floor. For such a lean creature it was astonishingly heavy. He felt the long claws poking through his clothes. Benjamin covered his head with his paws, trying not to think about how much the bite would hurt. Then there was a bruising pain when the creature leapt off of his body, and Cunninghorn started screaming again.

Resisting the ache of his ribs and back, Benjamin forced himself to his feet. He had to get out of here. He didn't want to know what Subject Zero was doing to make Cunninghorn scream so much. He started toward the door, praying he would make it back to the Town Hall before Subject Zero finished with the rhino.

The doors opened. Sedor stopped in the doorway, his hat and coat shimmering with rainwater. Water dripped from the tip of the beak of his mask.

Benjamin stared at those soulless black lenses, imagining he was seeing the eyes beyond. "What took you so long?" Was all he said.

Sedor looked over Benjamin's shoulder, seeing Cunninghorn at the creature's mercy. The grunt he made seemed almost contemptuous as he lifted the cheetah off his feet and carried him from the church.


	35. Bogo V

_Three hours earlier…_

"Christ on a stick." Bogo growled, the curse loud in the silence of the mine. After hours, perhaps days, of wandering through this underground maze, he'd found the way out. The rusty, rickety elevator beckoned him like the stairway to the Gates of Heaven, dirty lights shining like pearls.

Bogo checked his arm. The little cut he'd woken up had finally stopped bleeding, though the collar around his wrist was now stained red. A good omen, it seemed, and sure enough the elevator managed to take him to the surface without the cables snapping.

The controls on this end of the shaft were busted, but Bogo wouldn't go back down there for a president's ransom. The underground river had kept him alive, but he'd had the ominous sense of not being alone. Several times he'd heard the sound of leathery wings, but no matter where he'd looked he'd seen no sign of the flier. He'd heard other sounds too, dripping and crumbling, but the silence had been the worst part. Like the instant before a nut with a knife leapt out from an alleyway and gutted you before you could blink, only it lasted for a minute straight, and then ten minutes, before the silence was broken by a distant splash that could have been a bear's foot stepping into deep puddle.

But now he was out of the mine, and he could get back on track. He checked the sky. It was either dusk or twilight. He could have been in the mine for six hours, or an entire day, maybe even longer judging from how much he was craving long grass fries. It was raining as well, but it was so light he couldn't see it, only feel it sprinkling on his body. Bogo quickly scanned the area before pulling out his radio. Swinetown was so remote that getting a signal was unlikely, but he had to try. "Precinct One, come in. This is Captain Mansa Bogo. Precinct One, are you getting this?"

_"… Bogo? Good God, I've been trying to reach you for days!"_

Bogo exhaled loudly. _Finally, a signal! And a strong one at that._ "Chief Trunchbull, is that you?"

_"Yes, it's me! Thank God you're okay! Where's the rest of your team?"_

"They're still alive, I think. They were captured by the terrorists responsible for the attacks in the city. Speaking of which, I've figured out who they are, at least some of them."

_"You have?"_

"Yes, sir." Bogo sat down on a rock. "We encountered not only Sedor Valentino, but Maria Manchas, Stuart Levvar and Ryan Roarson. They mentioned a pack of wolves, and I think they may have been talking about the Bhediya siblings. I also saw two mammals in masks that I strongly suspect are Emmitt Otterton and Martin Liddel."

_"… Mammals from the missing predator list."_ Trunchbull said softly.

"Exactly, sir. I suspect they've been on this mountain all along. Something's happened to them, sir. They were talking about torturing McHorn and Higgins once they track me down, and I don't think it's to get information out of them." Bogo shivered and looked up at the sky. "Sir, how long have I been out of contact?"

_"Two, nearly three days. Where in God's name have you been?"_

"Long story. I'll save it for the report." Bogo said. "I've been out of contact for so long because the satellite phone was busted and someone's activated a jammer. Since I'm talking to you, I assume I'm out of its range."

_"A jammer? What kind of technology have these mammals been getting their paws on?"_

Bogo looked at his collar. "I don't know, sir. I suppose we should be thankful to they don't have a nuke."

_"Not funny. Where are you now?"_

"I just escaped a mine and I think I'm near Swinetown. You may have heard of it."

Bogo heard the elephant sputter and a mug clattering on a hard surface._"Swinetown?! But that's- Don't tell me the Commissioner sent you all the way out there!"_

"Like I said, it's a long story. Please just send backup, sir."

_"I-I'll inform the ZBI right away. In the meantime, I want you to find a place to hide. Do not engage the terrorists. I don't want any of that Bruce Woollis nonsense, do you understand?"_

Bogo stared at the reflective puddles in the rain-soaked mud, pondering his answer. "Sir, I'm on Clawhauser's trail. I want to keep going before it gets cold."

_"Oh, for God's sake!" _Trunchbull suddenly snapped. _"You're wasting your time, Bogo! If these predators are as insane as you say they are, then he's very likely dead."_

"And if he isn't, I'd be condemning him to death by stopping the search." Bogo said. "This isn't like Wilde, sir. He's an innocent mammal and I can't just give up on him."

_"He's an associate of Nicholas Wilde!"_

"With no evidence of his involvement in the Wild Times scandal. If he was a beaver or a hippo we wouldn't be having this conversation."

There was a bang. Trunchbull must have hit the desk. _"Captain, this is not up for discussion!"_

"Chief-"

_"Don't be a fool, Bogo. The cheetah is dead. Either the terrorists got him or Cunninghorn did. I want you to hide and stay put. That's an order."_

Bogo slowly closed his eyes, hoof tightening around the radio, and thought of the night he'd met Benjamin beside the piano in Pottermass's library. "I hear you, sir."

_"Good. The ZBI will be there as soon as possible. I'll contact you when it's clear and then we'll rescue Higgins and McHorn if it's not already too late. Stay safe, Bogo. Out."_

Bogo slowly lowered the radio, turned his gaze from the soggy ground to the collar on his wrist. Racial hypocrisy was not the only thing he hated about TAME collars and the ideology that invented them. There was also the animosity and distrust it bred on both sides. As a whole, the ZPD had no-one to blame for themselves for the prejudice they endured, and the fact that Bogo had once shared their mindset was a shame that haunted him to this very day. He'd lost count of the number of instances that a predator reacted to his mere presence with subdued antipathy, defiant bravado, confrontational vitriol or intense fear, even when he had no quarrel with them. Again, the fact that he had occasionally deserved it still burned him with shame.

Benjamin Clawhauser had shown no such revulsion.

"Normally I'd rather be a coward than a fool." Bogo said to the radio, even though Trunchbull could no longer hear him. "But I suppose we're all fools here."

"But not all of us are mad."

Bogo shot up from the rock, arms swinging his gun in a crooked arc, until the barrel was pointed up at the cage-like tower containing the elevator. Perched on one of the metal beams was a bat in a red mask.

"Stuart Levvar." Bogo quickly turned his head left and right, expecting an ambush. No other masked predators came out to surprise him. He kept his gun on the bat, who made no move to evade the line of fire. "You really have no shame, do you?"

"Whatsoever do you mean by that, my dear fellow?" Levvar said.

Bogo rolled his eyes. "Your hoity toitery for one thing."

"Mr. Big paid my weight in gold for the information I provided. If you're a rich predator, an incredible rarity in this forbidding world, wouldn't you act like it?"

"There's also the fact that you appear to have upgraded yourself from informant to terrorist. What, being a blood-sucking snitch wasn't good enough for you?"

Levvar chittered, offended. "Snitching is for reprobates with a death wish. I, on the other wing, provide a service."

_Enough of this bull_, Bogo thought. "In that case, I want some information. Where's the cheetah?"

Levvar shrugged. "I haven't seen so much as a tessellation in weeks."

"Alright, I see how this is. How much?"

"I beg your pardon?"  
"I'm not as fond of incessant four-dollar words as you are, how much for your information? Five years off your sentence? Fifty?"

Levver reached beneath his mask to scratch his chin. "One ounce."

Bogo almost lowered his weapon. "An ounce?"

Levvar pointed at Bogo, his claw lined up perfectly with the length of the buffalo's gun. "One ounce of your delectable plasma, straight from your appendage."

Bogo snorted. "Now you're doing it on purpose. What the hell is plasma?" Levvar said nothing, leaving the buffalo to figure it out for himself. "You're not serious."

"I'm a hematophagic _Diaemus youngi_. Of course, I'm serious."

"Well, you're sure as hell not sane." Bogo took a step forward, maintaining his aim. "How about this- you give me some answers, and I don't shoot you down from that tower."

Levvar leaned down, technically leaning up given that he was upside down. "How about this- I tell you where the youngster is, and you don't try to snipe me when I flutter off. Choose quickly, dear fellow, or the Red Knight will claim the prize."

He was getting on Bogo's nerves now. Even Cunninghorn's smug put-downs were less annoying than this bat's sanctimonious twaddle. "Just this once. Next time, I take you down."

Levvar chittered. "Agreed. You'll find him nearby. In a church midway through this forsaken municipality."

"Do you even know what municipality means?"

"Do you?"

"Never mind definitions, how do I know you're not bullshitting?"

"So, you don't know."

"Didn't say I didn't know. Just don't care." Bogo's hoof itched to pull the trigger. "I should have let you have at my arm, then I wouldn't have to listen to all this drivel."

Levvar snickered like an impish youth in an adult's body. "I've already had a taste of you."

Bogo's eyes widened. He sharply glanced down at the small incision on his arm, then back up at the bat.

"Oh, that is it!"

Levvar had a split second to dodge the dart. There was a tiny _thunk_ as the dart hit something on its way past the bat's body, and the featureless mask tumbled to the ground like a bright crimson pebble. Levvar stared, eyes almost bulging, blood trickling from a little cut on the side of his jaw, at the livid buffalo as he started to reload.

Collar yellow with anger, Bogo reached down to grab another dart, intent on not missing a second time. He slid the dart in place, just as a shrill laugh reached his ears. Levvar's wings shook as they tightened around his body, which seemed bent double as he hung from the metal beam. He laughed and laughed, shiny, razor sharp teeth flashing orange in the dusk.

"You temperamental simpleton!" He cackled, even as blood trailed down the side of his face and dripped from the tip of one ear. "If you run half as well as you shoot, the Bandersnatch is going to have very lackluster evening!"

He flapped his wings and took off into the sky, laughing all the way.

Bogo almost pulled the trigger a second time, but then he realized he may need the dart. He lowered the weapon, then paused in thought.

"Perhaps I shouldn't have done that." He muttered, before turning to make the short walk into Swinetown.

He'd seen no pictures of Swinetown before or after it was abandoned, and he was underwhelmed when he finally laid eyes on the first part of the town. Beneath the unsettling atmosphere and decay, it looked like anytown, eighteen-fifty. Taking out his flashlight, Bogo scanned the first set of small wooden buildings. There didn't appear to be anyone about, but he wasn't that great a fool. He pressed on when he saw a distant church steeple protruding up from behind the houses, refusing to let the gnawing in his stomach distract him, until the full building came in sight. In the muddy plain that was the graveyard there were several sets of prints.

In an instant his copper senses started tingling. He slowed his speed to a crawl, arms frozen in an arrowhead shape as he kept his aim on the church doors. He never took his attention away from his surroundings; they were as bleak and eerie as everything else on this cursed mountain. He wished McHorn and Higgins were here to provide backup. He reached the doors and nudged one open with the gun.

Pitch black. Of course, it was. He pointed the flashlight around the interior of the church, stiffening when he saw fresh blood. The sight of it almost made him call Benjamin's name, but pragmatism warned him against that kind of stupidity. It also warned him against continuing on. He was on his own, with two weapons at most, with dozens of hostiles and no backup. But Benjamin had made it this far with even less than that. And so Bogo walked deeper into the church, slowly sweeping his gun and flashlight left and right.

A massive grey, blue and red shape leapt up into the flashlight, and Bogo had a nanosecond to recognize Cunninghorn beneath the blood and gore before the rhino grabbed him.

"Bastard…" He snarled, blood dribbling from the deep, gaping cut across his lips and cheek. "Both of you… bastards…"

Bogo's eyes turned up and down, taking in the bloody bites covering Cunninghorn's body. One had ripped an ear in half and reduced his eye to a bloody crater. "What happened?" Shock reduced Bogo's voice to a whisper.

Cunninghorn seemed to be pouring all his strength into holding Bogo in his grasp, forcing the buffalo to listen to his words. "Why couldn't he just let you go…"

Bogo regained his senses and shoved at the rhino. It was a lot easier than it should have been, and Cunninghorn staggered back against the altar. The rhino sank to the floor as Bogo advanced on him.

"Where is Ben?"

"Fucking Slothfeld… I gave him his lab rats on a silver platter, and this is how he repays me…"

Bogo reached down and grabbed Cunninghorn by his ragged shirt. The rhino was fading fast. "I won't ask again. Where. Is. Ben?"

Cunninghorn didn't answer. Bogo gritted his teeth and punched him in his ruined eye. The rhino howled, but it was the weak howl of a dying mammal. "Where is he? Tell me, or I'm leaving you for dead."

"Town Hall… in the back room… I'm telling you so Valentino can tear your intestines straight out…"

Bogo heard the clicking of claws on stone and looked around quickly. He saw nothing but darkness. Then a pale blur shot past, and the buffalo briefly felt jaws striking his arm. He staggered back from Cunninghorn, the collar's bleep drowning out his curse. He gripped his arm and stared at the teeth marks welling up with blood.

The attack had happened so quickly that he didn't realize he'd dropped his gun and flashlight until that moment. He couldn't where his gun had gone, but he could see the quivering beam of the flashlight rolling across the floor, illuminating bloodstained wooden pews.

The glass hemisphere on his collar flicked from yellow to red.

Bogo stared at the collar, Trunchbull's voice echoing in his skull.

_"It's not like the normal collars, Bogo. Normally when it goes red, you get a shock and that's it. But this collar has a fourth stage. Red is the third, your final warning after the yellow stage. Once it goes blue, it's Savage City."_

_The hell with this!_ Bogo searched for the door, but something had made it close while he'd been preoccupied. He was now alone in the dark, with a hostile capable of bringing down a rhino without a gun. Where was it? _What_ was it? Why was his arm tingling? There was a shrill sound drowning out everything else. Now what? Screaming? The cry of the Bandersnatch Levvar had spoken of? No, it was beeping. The collar was bleeping in sync with his thundering heart.

"Keep it together, Mansa." He growled at himself. Bogo ran after the flashlight, grabbing it just as it came to a stop, and shone the light upwards. Something resembling a large wolf leapt across the beams holding up the ceiling to avoid the light. Whatever it was, it didn't seem severely pained by the light, only reacting when it realized Bogo was aiming at him. It must not have realized he'd lost his weapon. Yet. All the while collar stayed red. Bogo stopped dead, fell silent, and focused, listening intently. For an eternity, he heard nothing but the collar beeping like a ticking timebomb. He mustn't panic. He must not panic. If he did, that was it for his sanity. He needed a plan. He shone his flashlight at eye level, the beam suddenly revealing the closed exit. The flashlight. That would do. He just needed to buy himself five seconds.

The collar continued to beep. "Knock it off." Bogo grunted. The collar didn't stop, but its color reverted back to yellow. It always helped to have a plan.

He heard the tiniest whisper of exhaled air and spun, aiming his light like a gun.

Lumen, his sister had called it. Three hundred lumen was enough to temporarily blind someone. The flashlight issued to Precinct One officers was almost triple that number.

When the eight hundred lumen white beam struck the yellow-eyed creature square in the face, it reacted like it had been pepper sprayed, howling and flailing at its eyes. Bogo didn't hesitate, didn't even try to look for his weapon as he seized his chance. He was out the church within five seconds, spotting a broken tombstone the size of a paving slab. He muttered a small apology to the resident of the grave as he lifted the heavy stone and shoved it against the doors. The stone sank slightly into the mud, anchoring itself like a pillar.

The doors pulsed against the slab with a bang. The tombstone didn't budge. Good to know the creature didn't possess super strength.

What the hell even was that? Some psychopath posing as the Hound of the Casels? A gytrash? A Bandersnatch? Bogo shook his head. He had to have imagined it. He was going mad, like Levvar and the other terrorists. Either that or the darkness of the church had messed with his head.

"Town Hall." He looked down at the collar once more. It was still yellow, and would likely stay that way until he was back in Zootopia with Benjamin and his fellow officers. The situation was looking worse and worse, and now he had possible infection to worry about. He could already feel the muscles beneath the bite begin to relax. If it weren't for the pins and needles, he would have thought he'd been injected with Novocain.

When he found the Town Hall, In the time it took to find the secret stairway behind the bookcase, Bogo realized something was very wrong. He had to lean against the overturned desk for a moment before he started down the metal stairs. The gun felt heavier by the minute; by the time he reached the chamber he could hardly keep his hold on it. When his vision doubled as he was scanning the area, it occurred to him that he may have been poisoned.

It was a dark room, a metal platform building into a cavern. McHorn had mentioned that some tunnels within the mine were situated beneath the town streets, and this was surely one of them. The place was lit with green glass lights coming from a cable car dangling by the edge of the platform. _A cable car?! What the hell kind of operation were they doing here?_

Sedor Valentino saw Bogo through the cable car windows before Bogo saw him. The buffalo heard a low growl behind the door before it was almost ripped off in Sedor's rush to get it open. Bogo raised his gun as the bear rushed at him, only for his vision to double again. The blow came like a sledgehammer, causing his vision to go completely black, and he came to seconds later, feeling the cold platform beneath his back. Sedor stood over him like the grim reaper, gripping those wicked bone shears. Bogo tried to get up, but he couldn't even lift his head to look for his gun.

Yes, definitely poisoned. Not good. Maybe he had been too great a fool after all.

"No, no!"

Benjamin came between Bogo and Sedor's shears. He was wet, covered in dirt from the mine and wearing a miner's coat, but he was alive. Bogo tried to say his name, but even his voice was no longer working.

"No, leave him alone!" Benjamin yelled. Sedor tried to push him aside, but the cheetah ducked under his massive arm and stood his ground. Sedor grabbed him by the coat, threw him aside and knelt down beside the fallen buffalo. Bogo felt his large paw grab his wrist and watched him raise his arm to examine the bite.

"Leave him alone!" Benjamin shouted again. Sedor turned his head to growl at the cheetah in warning. "Please, you don't have to kill him!"

_Shut up and run, Ben_, Bogo tried to say._ Please._

"You think he's seen too much, is that it?" Benjamin said, voice hitched with panic. "What good would that do him? He's an anti-collar wet blanket with PTSD, everyone knows that. He could tell anyone about what he's found up here, but they won't believe him. They didn't believe him last time."

Sedor cocked his head at Benjamin. He let Bogo's arm drop to the floor and pulled up his shirt. Bogo tried and failed to grit his teeth, knowing that the bear was checking out his scar.

"You've got nothing to lose from letting him go. I'm the dangerous one. I'm the only one who can identify you as Woolton's killer. If you let him live, I'll come quietly. I'll even let you eat me if you want. Just let him live."

Sedor looked back at the cheetah abruptly. Bogo had seen that reaction several times in the interrogation room, when a suspect or witness was confronted with a game-changing piece of evidence. Benjamin's terrified expression softened slightly as he too realized the bear's confusion.

"Hang on." He said slowly. "You killed Woolton right there in Bug Burga. If you were going to kill me, you would have done it in the church." He got up from the floor, staring at Sedor. "But… then what do you want? For crying out loud, why don't you say something?!"

There was a quiet rumble in Sedor's throat. Bogo couldn't recall the bear saying a single word in the two or three times he'd encountered him.

Sedor appeared to scrutinize them both for a second. Then he straightened, lifted the cheetah and put him over his shoulder before he could react. Then he looked down at Bogo, bent down, grabbed the buffalo's leg and started to drag him across the platform.

"Wait! I wish to accompany you on your voyage." In flapped Levvar, the fur of his face crusted with the blood from his cut. He perched himself on the brim of Sedor's hat and hung upside down before the bear's masked face. "My initial objective was to apprise you of the necessitous buffalo's presence, but I see that was not required." Sedor grumbled and dragged Bogo into the cable car, slid the door shut, and released the buffalo to activate the controls. "I know, I know, my Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness is irksome and inessential… but it irritates the fuck out of our bovine acquaintance, so who gives a hoot?"

Oh, that bat could go to _hell_.

Bogo felt a jolt beneath his useless body as the cable car came to life and began its journey through the tunnel. Sedor stepped over Bogo, set Benjamin down on the seat and sat down beside the cheetah.

"How long will this trip take, two hours?" Levvar asked. His large eyes were on Bogo, and he didn't like the greedy look the nutty little creature was giving him. "You won't be perturbed if I refresh myself, do you? I have some unfinished business with our guest."

Benjamin tried to get up and intervene, but Sedor grabbed his shoulder and held him firmly in place. Levvar flew down and landed on Bogo's chest. He crawled up until Bogo could fell his light weight pressing on the dressing around his throat.

"Not the neck!" the cheetah yelled. Levvar ignored him.

_I should have known that would come back to bite me_, Bogo thought. He felt nothing at all when Levvar drew a fang across his skin and started licking.


	36. Nick VI

"Wow." Nick muttered.

"What was that?" Judy asked.

"Wow."

"Mm-hm."

"_Wow._"

"Go on, say it. The walls look like someone cooked fries on them."

"Not that. I wasn't expecting your place to be so…" Nick paused for effect. "Compact."

"It was all I could afford, give me a break." Judy retorted as she rifled through the single drawer of her stained, rickety desk. Her wide, heart shaped buttocks stuck out as she bent over the drawer, the cheeks so prominent Nick couldn't seem to look way. The sensual thoughts the sight brought up were more congenial than those of Honey lying on a slab, surrounded by gangsters, never to walk again.

"So remind me again why are we stopping here?" Nick asked quickly when the image threatened to come to the forefront.

"I can't go back to Precinct One, not with who knows how many bad cops after us. I'll have to gather whatever gear I can here."

"And what would that be? Fox repellent? Vulpus-go-away? Vulpine Taser?"

"Knock it off!" Judy pulled out what she'd been searching for: a key. She strode past Nick to the wardrobe, the only thing in the room that could be called expensive, at least by the standards of a rookie cop's salary. "And nope. Something with a little more kick than that."

"What, a spring propelled boxing glove?"

"I'm not going to dignify that with an acknowledgement. When I got the news that I'd passed the academy, my parents decided to show their support with a special gift to go with my care package. It was a semi-automatic Clawk 16, with a magazine that could carry about twenty darts. Something to keep in the apartment since we're not allowed to take our police-issued weapons home with us."

"Cool."

"Yeah, I didn't expect my parents to do that. But…" Judy snickered briefly. "All my family and friends that supported me had the same darn idea, and well, take a look." Judy unlocked the wardrobe, open the doors, and Nick's jaw dropped.

Three handguns, all different models. One revolver. Two shotguns, three BB guns and a dart rifle. If the little bunny turned tail, she could theoretically hold up a bank with this stuff. Judy put her paws on her hips, giving Nick a moment to admire her collection.  
"It was a pain in my celery getting the permits to keep most of this stuff. If it wasn't for that shooting range four blocks down I wouldn't even know how to use any of this stuff." She reached into the wardrobe, taking out the rifle and one of the guns. She lingered before reaching for one of the BB guns.

"Don't be ridiculous." Nick said.

"I don't want to take anything with live ammunition." Judy said, but she put down the BB gun regardless.

"Not a fan of the ballistic arts are you?"

"I have an aspiration to get through my law enforcement career without actually killing anyone."

"Really? There's a rumor going around that the ZPD has a yearly competition. Whoever has the most Liberum members routed gets a year's supply of donuts."

Judy spun round, shotgun in paw, eyes as hard as amethysts. "Nick. Shut the hell up."

Nick gulped. "Ok. I'll shut up. After I politely ask you to point that peashooter the other way." He smiled nervously. "Please point the peashooter the other way."

Judy's eyes softened just enough to show the hurt Nick had inflicting on her. She lowered the shotgun and added it to the others on the bed.

"Carrots?" Nick said. Judy's ear twitched. "Carrots, I'm sorry if I pushed too far-"

Judy spun round, shotgun back in her paws and aiming at the fox's chest. Nick's paws leapt into the air, almost as high as his heart.

"Nick, put your arms down, move to the right, and turn around."

Nick followed her instructions one by one, until he was facing the window. "You could have just told me to turn around, you didn't have to- you're not arresting me, are you?"

"I thought I heard rodents." Judy passed Nick to examine the windowsill. "Dirt. Tiny traces of dirt. Definitely rodents."

"Probably the same ones who sent the headset." Nick said. "How the hell do they keep finding us?"

"We'll figure that out later." Judy said. She shut the window and returned to the bed covered in weapons. "Okay, this is all the dart weapons. I think a pistol and my rifle will do it. You sure we can trust those guys to sneak us out of the city?"

"They smuggle contraband every day, trust me, they can." Nick said.

"I just wish we could call the ZBI."

"Elba told you Swinton's having them monitored, remember?"

"I know, I know. But I find it hard to believe that a mayor could exert so much influence over a government agency."

"A government agency, a conglomerate, a swill shop, it makes no difference to a Swinton. Her father was friends with Norman Holloway before he became president."

"Her father died of Alzheimer's a few months ago, but you may have a point." Judy said. She looked out the window once more, but this time to look at the limousine waiting for them outside.

"We shouldn't keep them waiting." Judy said. She turned to face Nick, eyes soft with empathy. A streetlamp outside the window illuminated her outline with a soft creamy glow. "You don't have to do this, you know. I can just go and meet up with Bogo and the others. We'll find your friend and put an end to all this, I promise."

Nick shook his head. "We both have a stake in this, Carrots. I'm seeing this through with you to the end."

Renato Manchas, the jaguar who drove the limo, greeted them politely when they stepped out into the street. In the limo itself was a Joey Kicks, a kangaroo on Mr. Big's payroll. Manchas was to drive him to the neighboring town of Deerbrooke, and Nick and Judy were to be smuggled out with them. Nick pinched the coat pocket where the 'Vorpal Blade' was being kept, before climbing into the trunk with the rabbit. Manchas opened the secret compartment used for smuggling, and silently motioned for them to get in before sealing the compartment up again. It was dark and claustrophobic, but not so small as to crush them together. There was also a cool draught, making suffocation unlikely. Nick had to curl into a ring around Judy's crouched ball form. It was times like this that made Nick grateful that the Lord gave him night vision.

"Why is a kangaroo of all mammals working for Mr. Big?" He heard Judy ask. He couldn't see her, but he could feel her against his curved body. It was uncomfortable, but at the same time her presence made his position more tolerable.

"Officially, every prey mammal in the city is above predators on the totem pole, but that pole doesn't count for circumstances. Joey, for instance, was forced to make Mr. Big an unofficial stockholder. He'd racked up a lot of debt, and beggars can't be choosers."

The vehicle rumbled as it started up the street. Nick had to tense and let the disk poke into his body, so he knew it was still there. The deal he'd made with Mr. Big was the only assurance he had that the car wasn't going to suddenly drop into a lake.

"Nick?" Judy asked.

"Yeah?" Nick asked.

"Why do you hate the ZPD so much?"

If Nick had enough space to turn his head and scowl at her, he would. "You really have to ask?"

"Nick, when someone's that angry, it's not bravado, it's personal. There's more to it, isn't there? Beside Wild Times?"

Nick bit the sides of his tongue, steadily increasing the pressure until it became painful. Then he released the breath he'd been holding. "You know about Liberum, don't you?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, ever since they bombed that nuclear power plant and brought down Roarcadia, the Triumvirate have been on a secret witch hunt for any remaining members. When they find a mark, they send in the ZPD and make up any charge they like. Sometimes they get their mammal, most times they get someone totally innocent." The words kept pouring out like cold rainwater. When he was eight, or maybe nine, he had come home to find three squad cars, _three_, outside his house. His father had been gone, taken away in a fourth car. It had already left by the time Nick had gotten there.

He never got the chance to see him being taken away.

The rest had stayed behind to interrogate his mother and search the house. They'd found nothing, but a wardrobe and two kitchen cupboards had been broken in the search. He could still remember his mother a sobbing mess on the kitchen stool, her shock collar tormenting her to no end, saying the same thing over and over, with little variations. _"He had nothing to do with that bomb! He's innocent! He hadn't even been in Roarcadia when the attack happened!"_

The trial had come quickly after that. Nick had been forced to stay outside with Honey while his mother stood as a witness, helpless to do anything but say her piece, sit back and watch the inevitable. It wasn't until a day later that Nick discovered that John Wilde really had been a Liberum member, only to leave the group after their leader, Koobus Lupine, had been found guilty of masterminding the bombing.

Other than that, there had been no evidence that John had been involved. None. He'd had a rock solid alibi. But he had been found guilty the moment the ZPD had decided to come to his door.

Nick had seen his father, for the first time in weeks, being led to a waiting van in cuffs, the crowd too thick and loud for John to hear his son calling his name. Nick had kept calling out even as the van drove off, not realizing what had happened until his mother, eyes moist with tears, had got down on one knee and explained the verdict to him.

Present day Nick's claws were digging into his palms. "I never saw him again."

Judy felt stiff as a baseball. "But you said he didn't receive the death penalty."

"He was sent to a maximum-security prison far away, where visitors were forbidden. He died there a few years later."

"Nick, I can't believe they would do that… no, I can believe it. I don't even know if I can trust the ZBI anymore. Cheese and crackers, my insides are a knot."

"Easy on the self-butt kicking there, Carrots. Not all officers are pieces of shit. Sure, most of them don't like my sort very much, but that doesn't stop them from putting their butts on the line on a daily basis. There's Bogo, McHorn, Higgins, the deer who talked that guy down from the bridge a couple weeks back … you."

He felt Judy's warm body expand slightly in her surprise. "Me?"

"Sure, you've got your anti-fox follies, but that didn't stop you from doing the right thing, did it? You probably wouldn't have been on my case if your bosses hadn't put you on it themselves. You're a good cop, Carrots, the best I know. I wish I could have seen that before I took your wallet-"

"You did _what_?"

Nick was glad Judy was in no position to see his face. "… Nothing. The point is that I don't see anything to forgive you for, not anymore. If anything, you should be forgiving me for getting you into this mess."

There was a slight pressure against his arm that felt like Judy's paw. Great, now she was being touchy-feely. Nick wished he had the space to move his arm. He wasn't used to this kind of affection. "Nick, this isn't your fault either. Swinton and her cronies manipulated both of us. This is all on them."

"But I dragged Benji into my Wild Times plan, without him even realizing it. I'm pretty sure he's officially done with me."

Judy gave a gentle pat. "During my first week on parking duty, I witnessed a robbery committed by a weasel who tried to give the police the slip by passing through Little Rodentia. Without really thinking it through, I went in after him."

"Did he pop?"

"What?"

"Did you pop the weasel?"

Judy's fingers dug in very slightly. "Yes, I popped the weasel, Nick. But when I brought him back to HQ, Bogo was furious. I had abandoned my post, he said. I had incited a scurry, recklessly endangered rodents, etc, etc. For a while, I was as angry as he was. I couldn't understand why he didn't understand that I'd done the right thing. Duke was a career criminal, a bigger threat to the citizens than I was. I'd caused Duke to panic by following him into Rodentia, but still, I'd defied Bogo's prejudiced expectations by making my first arrest all by myself, without any weapons. It wasn't until later that I found out that while I had retrieved forty-two dollars stolen from a till, two cars, a train and _four_apartment blocks had been damaged because I'd escalated the situation."

Nick thought of a good quip about the cost of repairing said damage to what were essentially reinforced doll houses, but said nothing.

"Then I went from being angry to feeling lower than dirt." Judy continued, her voice betraying her shame. "What had I been thinking? I could have just gone around the district and caught him at the other end, but no, I had something bigger to prove. For a while, I thought I'd be stuck wearing that stupid vest for the rest of my life."

"So what changed?" Nick asked.

"Honestly, I have no idea." Judy said. "Maybe Bogo saw that I'd learned from my mistakes."

"Or Chief Trunchbull got sick of seeing his latest valedictorian being relegated to printing tickets." Nick suggested.

"I thought so too, but I remember the look on Bogo's face when he told me I was going on patrol. He didn't look like he'd been forced into anything. I honestly believe he decided to give me a second chance."

Nick wanted to say something cynical, but once again the words died in his throat. He sensed what Judy was implying, and he couldn't help but feel a little bit of hope well up in his pandora's box of repressed emotions. "Let me guess. You're saying Benji might give me a second chance, too."

"He still cares about you. I've seen it." Judy said. "Don't give up on your friendship, Nick. I know you'll find a way to make things right."

They fell silent for a while, listening to the rhythm of the limo's engine. Nick's body pressed against the walls of the compartment each time the vehicle turned a corner.

"It's getting colder." Nick said.

"Is it? It's pretty warm in here." Judy said.

"That's because you're the one with the fox-fur quilt."

"Fair point. You're not cold, are you?"

"I'm not freezing, at least. You make a pretty good hot bunny bottle."

Judy giggled, her body shaking against his. "You know the mountain better than I do. Where do you suggest we start looking?"  
"Your buddies last came in contact near the lodge. It's the closest spot to the cable car station. We could look there, then check out the asylum. See if Alyssa and the others actually do need our help."

"Even if they don't, at least you'll be out of the city. You can stay in hiding until I find proof that you didn't cause the savage attacks."

Nick's heart sunk a little. "Carrots, not to criticize your optimism but you're forgetting two little things. I started Wild Times and escaped police custody." At this, Judy's assuring smile vanished. Nick felt nauseated himself. "I may be innocent of the savage attacks but I'm still guilty. I'm doing this to help my friends and help you save Zootopia, but no matter how this plays out, I'm kissing my freedom goodbye."

Judy deflated with a sigh. _Way to go, Nicky_, Nick thought with a sigh of his own.

The limo slowed to a stop at Zootopia Overlook. It was a couple of minutes before Manchas released them from their hiding spot, holding a small flashlight. Judy's big purple eyes shone when the beam fell upon them, locking eyes with Nick's. She smiled at Nick, and Nick realized that he was smiling back. It was weird what several near-death experiences, a cleared misconception, and a heart to heart in a tiny box could do to a relationship.

Joey pointed at a path into the forest. "The cable car station is up that one path, you can't miss it. Mr. Big wishes you luck."

He and Manchas returned inside the limo and drove off without another word.

Judy gave Nick the rifle to hold while she held her little pistol. "You still have the disk?"

Nick pulled it out and opened the CD case, showing her the sapphire blue disk inside. "Uncracked and unscratched. Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to it. So what's my next move, your majesty?"

"My what?"  
"You're the White Queen, remember?"

Judy pursed her lips. "I'd prefer if you stick to Carrots."

Nick shrugged. "Whatever floats your boat. What do you want me to do?"

"Your main job is to hold that disk, stay out of trouble, and hide when I tell you to. And maybe put that sly head of yours to good use by figuring out where Cheryl is hiding."

Nick gripped her shoulder. He swallowed in his apprehension. "We're going after her, too?"

"Not unless we have to." Judy said.

Nick sighed in relief. "Damn. Excuse me if I sound like a wuss, but for a second there I thought you were suggesting we do something really stupid."

Judy snickered at his reaction. "Better to be a coward than a fool. Bogo told me that when he reamed me out for the Rodentia incident. Don't worry, I'm not that dumb."

"Could have fooled me."

He yelped when Judy punched his arm. "When this is over, I'll discuss the extent of my dumb bunniness with Internal Affairs. Not with a smart alec with no room to talk."

Nick rubbed his arm, chuckling. "Fair point. Let's go find your boys in blue."


	37. Gabriel III

Gabe pressed his ear against the fourth locked door he'd come across, the one leading up to the roof, and thought he could hear the monotonous hum of some large machine. The other three doors had been as quiet as tombs, so this one gave him a bit of hope. Depending on what sort of machine was inside, there may be someone inside who was maintaining it. But without a keycard, or someone who knew how to pick a lock that couldn't be picked with a credit card, he had no way of knowing.

After falling into the trap in the Director's Office, Gabe was reluctant to try kicking the door open, which looked sturdy enough that kicking it wouldn't have worked anyway. He moved on, stopping before a wall map of the asylum. He examined it, mentally noting the remaining rooms on this floor, and the bottom floor which had yet to be fully explored.

With caution an absolute must, searching the asylum had been slow going. Every room he'd entered so far had shown signs of recent habitation; a general lack of dust on the chairs and floor, stained beds that looked like they were being used by jackhammers, and fly-ridden avian cadavers piled up on tables and various other surfaces. The smell from that last detail was especially repugnant. Gabe couldn't remember being in any of those rooms during his time in captivity. He didn't even remember everything about the area he had been kept in, but he was sure it would come back to him once he found it. Every room, however, had been empty. No hostiles, no Starlight, no Slothfeld, no mammalian corpses… no anyone.

"The male ward." Gabe muttered, eyeing the specified section of the map, the last area of this floor he had to explore, located at the very end of the main hallway he was currently standing in. After that, the only place left would be whatever was on the other side of the thick metal partition underground. With a kukri knife in paw, he set off in that direction.

His heart jolted when his ears caught the sound of voices. They sounded masculine, but after hours of searching a creepy asylum soaked in old blood and gore, any sign of life was better than none. When he reached the doors to the male ward, he found it held shut by a makeshift security bar built from metal scraps. Gabe used that bar to pull himself up to look through the window; the hallway beyond was empty, but the voices were definitely coming from that direction. Gabe dropped back down and lifted the bar. When he opened the doors, the voices became clear.

"… you think he's coming back?"

"Don't jinx it, Higgs. Just don't."

Gabe raised an eyebrow. "Sergeant Higgins?" He stopped in the middle of the hallway, focusing his hearing to determine which room the voices were coming from.

"I'm just asking." 'Higgs' said. "I'd find out myself if that jerk hadn't taken my watch."

"He took your watch so they could flay your arm elbow to wrist! If the other ones hadn't radioed him, you- you really want him to come back?"

_There._ Gabe crept up to one of the left doors. He looked through

the keyhole and saw-

"Shit, wrong room." Gabe moved to the next door along, the one bearing the name DAY ROOM. When he looked through the window, he saw two gurneys standing side by side in the middle of the room. Restrained to each one was two police officers Gabe recognized almost instantly.

"Did you hear something?" Higgins asked, turning his head left and right.

"What?" McHorn asked grumpily.

Gabe dropped down and tried the handle. It was locked, but the door had been hit by something, warping it just enough to widen the vertical crack between the door and the frame.

"Fuck this." He slipped the tip of his kukri into the crack.

"Ok, now I hear it." McHorn sounded tense. "I told you not to fricking jinx it."

Gabe opened the door and stepped warily into the room. He didn't see tripwires, bombs, or anything else that indicated a trap. McHorn and Higgins had turned their heads toward the door. Their bruised and bloody faces grimaced when they saw Gabe.

"Aw shit, they're taking turns." McHorn groaned. "You can cut off my _cajones_shove them up my ass and you still won't break me you little piece of-"

"Save it for the real bad guys!" Gabe snapped. "I'm not one of them."

"Then what's the carving knife for?"

"It's not a carving knife, it's-" Gabe took a deep breath and shut the door behind him. If they really thought he was one of the terrorists, this was going to be difficult. "Would you mind explaining to me what the hell you're doing here?"

Higgins tightened his fists. One wrist had a deep cut that was leaking blood onto the filthy sheet beneath him. "We ain't telling you nothing."

"It's an easy question. It's not like I'm asking you for your mama's grass pie recipe."

Higgins started to look uncertain. "Maybe he's telling the truth, Mac. That other bastard wanted to torture us just for the sake of it."

Gabe decided to press on. "Higgins, right? I overheard you saying that wolf was called away. Any idea what that was about?"

Higgins chewed the corner of his mouth, visibly debating. McHorn glared at the hippo, daring him to talk. "If you're not one of them, who are you?"

"Gabriel. Gabriel Mossberg." Gabe said, not wanting to risk a lie. He wasn't that good at it, and cops were trained to tell the difference. "I'm looking for someone called Slothfeld. Know him?"

McHorn and Higgins traded glances.

"I'll assume that's a yes. Do you know someone called Starlight Foxtrot?"

"Now that we don't know." Higgins said. "But we heard that wolf say her name on the radio."

"What the hell, Higgs?" McHorn growled.

Higgins tried and failed to shrug with the restraints holding him. "What? I don't want to give him a reason to use that thing!"  
Gabe held up the blade, letting it flash in the light of the ceiling lamp. He walked up to McHorn's gurney. "It's a kukri knife, and I'll use it to cut those restraints if you want me to."  
"'Scuse me if I call bullshit." McHorn said snidely.

Gabe sighed and cut the strap of the restraint holding the rhino's right arm. "There. You're free. Now are you going to cooperate or not?"

McHorn wasted no time freeing his other arm before glaring down at Gabe. Gabe glared right back, ready to fight back if the rhino tried anything. McHorn scrutinized the mammal, specks of dust flashing in the bright light above his head, and then he huffed. "Fine."

Gabe stood back as McHorn freed his legs and got off the gurney. Gabe frowned when he saw his full body. His clothes were full of bloody slits, like someone had taken a scalpel and tried to carve him like a Halloween pumpkin. In fact, as Gabe kept examining the cuts, he could make out jagged words. AKELA WUZ HEER was the most distinct, carved in large pointed letters on McHorn's exposed chest. He knew then that freeing them had been the right thing to do. "Christ on a stick."

"What?" McHorn asked before realizing that Gabe was staring at his wounds. "Oh, yeah. Expect some severe police brutality when I get my hands on that bastard." He went to free Higgins, and Gabe decided to resume questioning.

"So why was the wolf called away?"

"His buddy said that someone called Starlight had come back, and they had to catch her before she made it back into zibalba." McHorn freed Higgins' arms first.

"Starlight?" Gabe repeated, heart nearly stopping again. Could she really be here?

"Yep. Sounds like a codename from one of those stupid Marvole movies." McHorn freed Higgins' legs, and the hippo got off the gurney. Other than the cut on his arm, he didn't look as brutalized as his larger comrade. "He took off as soon as he heard, and he hasn't been back since."

Higgins' eyes grew big as he took in Gabe's appearance. "Christ, you look like a one-mammal-army! What kind of predator are you?"  
"Trade secret. Just know that I want to stop these mammals as much as you do. And I think I know how we can help each other."

McHorn's response dripped skepticism. "How can we help each other?"

"I'm going a hazard another guess and say that neither of you have seen anything outside of this room. I know where the control room is, but without the keycard I can't get inside." Gabe traced McHorn's robust, muscular, massive form. "Not by myself, anyway."

To his relief, after threatening to turn Gabe into roadkill if he tried anything, McHorn and Higgins consented to let him lead the way. Along the way, like many officers do, they asked questions. Had he seen their captain? Were there any weapons they could use? What the hell was going on here? Fortunately for them and Gabe's patience, they had the sense to keep their voices down.

"I don't know where Bogo is, but if you're looking for answers, you've come to the right place." Gabe said. "These predators were being used as test subjects for the serum used to target those predators back in the city."

"You mean the serum the fox claimed turned him savage?"

"That's the one. As you may have already guessed, the experiments turned them insane. And now they're using that same serum to exact retribution against Zootopia."

"Unless we stop them." McHorn said. "If this Project Twilight was using dangerous mammals, they've got to have some kind of armory."

To their mutual disappointment that was one of the rooms Gabe hadn't found yet. "Pity that peashooter of yours is too small. Bastards took my Python." Higgins muttered.

McHorn snorted. "Since when did you have a pet?"

Higgins stopped dead. "Seriously? You think I'm talking about a _python_python?"

McHorn snorted again. "I did. Right up until you started staring at me like that."

"Am I going to have to put a gun to your head before you'll read that book?"

Gabe held up a paw. Further down the hall leading to the control room was a camera panning left to right. Timing it carefully, they passed right underneath the camera and continued on. "The door's right around this corner. Take a look."

McHorn peeked around the corner. "I've busted through walls tougher than that."

That was exactly what Gabe wanted to hear. "I'll handle anyone waiting on the other side." He rounded the corner and pressed his ear to the control door. He heard the tapping of fingers on a keyboard. One mammal was in there, maybe two. He looked at McHorn and jerked his thumb. "After you."

McHorn was through the door faster than Gabe could think 'take them alive if you can.' The shocked curse of one at least one hostile was almost consumed by the thunder of the door hitting the floor. Gabe spun and charged into the room after McHorn, who was already gunning for the single wolf standing beside the monitors.

There was a clank to Gabe's left. A meaty hand grabbed the hood of his jacket before he could turn to look, and he felt himself being yanked backward. Something huge and metallic raced past his face, and there was a sharp crunch of a wall cracking. Dangling from Higgin's grip, Gabe tried to figure out what had happened as McHorn dealt with the wolf, pinning him to the floor before looking back at the doorway. "What the hell is that?"

Higgins released Gabe and they both stepped into the control room. Embedded into the right-hand wall was a large saw blade from the abandoned sawmill, built into a pendulum-like mechanism. Beneath said pendulum was the slack string of a tripped tripwire.

"Thanks." Gabe muttered, squeezing his kukri hilt in fury. He'd seen the bear trap and shotgun in the lodge. He knew that there'd be booby traps here in the Red Queen's lair. How could have been so stupid?

"Rama, right?" McHorn growled at the wolf trapped beneath him after ripping off his helmet. "Lucky for you, you're not the one who cut his name right into me. So where's the asshole who did?"

Rama spat at him. "I'm top dog, you fuck-ugly, fucking piece of fucking fuck! Get outta my office!"

"Higgins, check the feed!" McHorn shouted. Higgins obeyed quickly, while Gabe walked over to Rama and his captor. The wolf blinked at the sight of him.

"You? Aren't you the one who got away?" Rama snickered. "Retarded geniuses thought you were a freakin' vegetable."

McHorn looked up sharply. "What's he talking about?"

"I escaped a few months ago, before Slothfeld could turn me crazy, too." Gabe admitted. "I didn't tell you before because I didn't want you thinking I was one of them." Ignoring McHorn's glare, he knelt down beside Rama. "If you remember me, you'll remember the vixen I was brought here with. Where is she?"

"Savage Starlight? You just missed her. Hot stuff slipped right past the traps. Again. With a fuckin bear cub. Can you believe that horseshit?"

McHorn grunted and stopped looming over Rama but didn't take his grip off him. "At least he's cooperating."

Gabe leaned over Rama. "Where is Starlight?"

"Back in XIBALBA, with the good doctor. He's been stuck down there since we broke out. One way in, no way out. Not without getting a face full of C4 or us cutting him up into little pieces."

"You mean the partition underground?" Gabe asked. "Is that where they are?"

"Which partition?" Rama asked. "All of them, I guess."

Gabe pressed his kukri against his throat.

"The machine jamming communications. Where is it?"

"Now that, I'm not telling."

Higgins spoke up from where he was watching the monitors. "Hey, there's some kind of signal jammer on the roof. A big one."

Rama dropped his head to the floor. "Fuck."

Higgins pressed another button. "Oh, and I found our stuff, by the way. Locked up in this room with a whole smorgasbord of weapons. In the armory."

Gabe peered at the image. "That door was marked as the handicapped toilet! Sons of bitches must have switched the sign."

Rama held up a paw. "Guilty as charged!"

Gabe looked at McHorn. "I'm going to go see about those partitions."

He joined Higgins's side before the monitors, flicking through different feeds before finding the feeds displaying the underground floors. Higgins was busy rewinding the feed of hidden cameras at the lodge, muttering about Bogo. As it turned out, there were three partitions. The first one, the one that had blocked Gabe's path before, lead to a white hallway loaded with tripwires. There were two doors in this section, one leading to a laboratory and another leading to the glass cells Gabe had recalled. The second partition led to a small lobby, where the third, sturdier partition was also sealed. In this lobby stood the other two wolves, watching the third partition with assault rifles. There were no feeds displaying the interior of XIBALBA itself.

"Starlight." Gabe whispered. He dropped down and started rummaging through Rama's clothes. The wolf made some strongly worded complaints, but McHorn held him firm to the floor. In the rear pocket of the wolf's pants, he found a ring of old keys and a keycard. _Time to let the spies out of their cages._

It was also time to lose these officers. He'd done enough freeing them from those gurneys, and he couldn't risk them changing their minds and trying to arrest him. They seemed like honest cops and hurting them was not preferable.

Gabe was taking fleeting looks at the doorway, debating how easy it would be to simple cut and run, when Higgins suddenly muttered. "Son of a bitch! What are they doing here?"

Gabe held a kukri back to Rama's throat so McHorn could see for himself. "Hopps?!"

Gabe's ears pricked. So did Rama's. He cursed under his breath but wasn't entirely surprised. He and the agents had been gone a long time, and they were working against the clock. And that bunny was a tenacious one.

"I think that's the lodge. What've they got cameras there fo- what the hell, is that the fox?"

"It's like a fucking Wild Times reunion." Rama chuckled.

"Shut up, you psycho." Gabe muttered.

"Come on, you can be more original than that."

"Fuck off, you fat, useless sack of fucking yankee dankee doodle shite."

"Nice try, Ramsay used that one in Hell's Game Trail! And I'm not a born Animerican!"

"Okay, enough!" McHorn snapped. "This was two hours ago. Which way did they go?" He nudged Higgins aside to fast forward the footage himself. "Jesus, they're headed right for us. Higgs, keep checking the cameras. They might already be here." He strode past Gabe and Rama and grabbed the tripwire. He pulled it free and motioned for Gabe to stand aside so he could properly truss up Rama. "Someone has to go turn off that jammer so we can contact Hopps."

_And that's my cue. _"Leave that to me." Gabe took off like a shot, 'conveniently' taking both the keys and the card with him.

Minutes later at the first-floor cells, Alyssa wasn't at all pleased. She had the aura of a pressurized soda can being exposed to intense heat. "First of all, what took you so long? Second, what the frig are Hopps and Wilde doing up here?"

"The three of us going out of contact for nearly two days may have something to do with it." Gabe said sardonically.

Alyssa sighed and walked out the cell. "Let's just free Jack and find that bloody tiger."

"Also, I ran into our missing police officers."

The vixen stopped dead. "Which ones?"

"McHorn and Higgins. Last I saw them, they were in the control room with one of the wolves as their prisoners. We should probably try to avoid them."

"Why?"

"Because I kind of took the keys and ran off."

"_Kind of?_"

Gabe rubbed the back of his neck, "Yeah, kind of, so let's not run into them again. Otherwise we'll have a lot of explaining to do."

Alyssa's ears flattened. Her gaze went over Gabe's head. "Yes. We do. You might want to turn around."

Gabe closed his eyes, put his paws on his hips, and lowered his head. "… Okay, which one are you?"

"The hot one." McHorn said slowly.

Gabe turned around, head still low, feeling the frigidness of the rhino's glare. "I tried to give you the slip because I didn't want to compromise my friend here."

"And who is your friend?" McHorn asked. Gabe looked up and saw a little recognition in the officer's eyes. Did he recognize her from the Arctic House Incident? There was also a pistol in the rhino's holster, radio on his belt and a shotgun in his hoof, likely borrowed from the 'handicapped toilet.'

"I was being held hostage by these predators." Alyssa said quickly.

"Haven't I seen you somewhere before?" McHorn asked.

"You caught me hooking a few years ago." Alyssa gave herself a hint of resentment. "And I've been keeping my legs closed since then, thank you very much. I came here looking for my mate. His name is Ben. He's a cheetah who used to work at a Bug Burga. Seen him?"

"Your boyfriend's a cheetah?"

"Not that kind of mate, you twit!"

"Easy there, Snow White." Gabe roughly patted Alyssa's shoulder before things could get out of hand. "He's obviously not familiar with your mother tongue."

McHorn peered at the vixen. Gabe was beginning to think he might need to get his gun out when the rhino grumbled. "Let's get something straight. I don't trust you, and neither does Higgs. You run off like that again or pull any other crap, I'll come after you with some cuffs and a very, very big gun. Got that?"

"Got it." Gabe said.

"Sure." Alyssa said.

"Now that that's settled, is there anything else we oughta know about?"

It was Alyssa who answered. "They're holding a member of the Congressional Research Service here, too. Or so I heard."

Jack Savage did his best to look scared and relieved when he was finally freed from his own cell. He was doing a good job of it as well, even though Gabe knew that the added complication of two police officers had to be pissing him off more than his long stint in that cell. Like Alyssa, Jack quickly came up with a convincing story. He'd escaped the chaos of the Palm Hotel only to be abducted by mysterious mammals wearing masks, and had been held prisoner in this asylum since then. McHorn had seemed more convinced by that yarn that he had been with the fox's.

"It's not surprising that no-one saw it happen. I like to work alone." Jack said. Gabe detected a hint of truth in that particular statement. "So what now? Have you called for backup yet?"

"We can't call anyone until we stop that jammer." McHorn said. "I'll drop the three of you off with Higgins, then I'll go- Oh for God's sake, what are you doing here, Higgins?!"

Higgins had come barreling around the corner, Rama's bound body over his shoulder, panting like bellows. "Mac… it's Bogo…"

"Bogo? You found him?" McHorn stomped past the three small mammals and grabbed Higgins by the shoulders. "Is he okay? Spit it out, you bastard!"  
"There's some kind of cable car station under the building. I saw it on the cameras…" Higgins took another heavy breath, almost pale with fear. "Valentino's on his way here right now. With Bogo and Clawhauser. He's got both of them, Mac."

McHorn audibly and visibly swallowed. "Alive?"

"I think so. Come on, we've got to get down there."

"Hold up, let me think…" McHorn paced a little, rubbing his head. "Hey, short stuff. You mind if I take those keys?"

"Nah." Gabe threw them to him.

"Good." McHorn pulled Rama from Higgins's shoulder and tossed him unceremoniously into Jack's former cell. He shut the door, cutting off the wolf's vile threats, and locked it. "That's one down. We should take care of the others before Valentino gets here, so he doesn't have backup."

"Wait, what about us?" Alyssa asked.

"You and the rabbit should go hide. You, on the other hand," He added, pointing at Gabe. "are staying with me so I can keep an eye on you."

Gabe held his paws up. "Fine, whatever." He looked Alyssa dead in the eye. "If you see a handicapped toilet, don't be fooled. The control room's clear, and there's plenty of places in there where you can hide. See you two, later, alright?"

Jack and Alyssa nodded. "Sure." Alyssa said. "And something still needs to be done about that jammer." _Leave it to us_, her eyes told him.

Gabe turned back to the officers and held out a keycard, diverting the officers' attention from the other paw reaching down to make sure his radio was still on. "This might open that partition."

"Thanks." McHorn took the card with a grunt. He pocketed the card and cocked his shotgun. "Come on, Higgs. It's Bear Season."


	38. Nick VII

When they reached the asylum, Nick thought at first that they had reached another dead end. There were no playing card-themed terrorists patrolling the area. No signs of life other than lights in the windows of the far-away building. Cold and wet from wading through foliage dripping with rainwater, Nick stared at the blockade before them. "Carrots?'  
Judy's ear twitched, but she didn't take her eyes off the pile blocking the bridge. "Yes?"

Nick crossed his arms. "You're not seriously thinking of trying to climb over that pile of rusty old cars, are you?"

Judy cracked her fingers. "Yes."

Nick drummed his fingers on his forearm. "Let me ask you one more question. When was your last tetanus shot?"  
Judy stiffened and lowered her paws. "You got a better idea, fox? Because this has got nothing on a frigid ice wall."

Nick wandered to the rail separating them from the cliff edge. It was a long way down, and the distance from here to the asylum was almost as long. "Is that a generator on the other side?"

Judy joined his side and looked. "Huh. It is. So?"

"So… could you pass me a quarter please?" Judy raised an eyebrow at the odd request, but did as Nick asked. Nick flicked the coin at the pile. Even though he had expected it, he still jumped back in fright when sparks exploded from the coin the instant it touched the blockade.

Nick stroked his chin. "Ingenious. Insidious, but ingenious."

Judy's ears were flat as she tried her radio again. "Nothing but static. Now what do we do?"

Nick waved his finger at the bridge. "You could try using the rifle to destroy the generator, but the rail's in the way and it would make too much noise any-" _Beep!_

Nick grabbed his wrist and slapped it to his chest. "No! Nononononono, don't you dare!"

Judy stared at his chest. "Please do not tell me you are still wearing that child hazard."

Nick yanked down his sleeve to expose the Mag-Ryder. "Hey, I'll be happy to take it off just as soon as I figure out how!"

"You didn't think to ask Honey?" The second after she said it, her ears flattened and she shrank in on herself. "I'm sorry, I didn't think..."

"No, you're not wrong." Nick said as casually as he could, even as the memory of the blood exploding from Honey's spine gave him the urge to smash something. When the moment passed, he felt surprise at Judy's contrition. Doing her duty and saving his butt was one thing, but showing sincere concern for his feelings was something else. It felt good. "I had plenty of chances to ask her. And it's my own damn fault for putting it on in the first place." He gave a shrug, wiped his eyes- _beep!_– and quickly hugged his arm back to his chest. "Don't even think about it!"

Judy groaned. "Did you at least figure out how it works?"

"Sort of. Honey built some kind of super-high-tech targeting system into the Mag-Ryder. If I point at anything magnetic, the Mag-Ryder will beep-" _Beep!_Nick quickly lowered his paw. "Like that!"

Judy stepped closer to the rail, scrutinizing the building on the other side of the chasm. "How do you make it fire?"

"Honey said you shoot your arm out like you're shooting web." Nick raised his arm to demonstrate but slapped it down in the nick of time. Chuckling sheepishly, he added. "Nothing can resist my animal magnetism."

Judy palmed her face even as she giggled. "Anything else, Inspector Gadget?"

"Sure. Turns out there's a little dial on the side that lets me adjust how fast it goes. I've put it down to slow."

"So if you try it out on that sign over there," Judy pointed at the rusted metal signpost the guardhouse. "It wouldn't slingshot across the dirt."

"In theory, no."

Judy stepped back and gestured to the signpost. "Go on, then."

Nick was just a little unsettled. "Aren't you going to tell me not to do something so stupid?"  
"Nope."

"Really?"

"Yep."

"I suppose going deep into hostile territory has already put us way beyond stupid." Nick aimed first, waiting for the beep before performing the necessary sharp thrust.

Just like in Tundratown, the super magnet shot out, striking the distant signpost with pin-point accuracy.

Nick and Judy stared at the signpost, and the taught black cable between them, like they had just snagged the strangest fish in existence.

Judy flicked the cable, with quivered with a quiet _twang_. "Isn't it supposed to… you know… pull?"

"I guess I dialed the speed a bit too low. Hang on." Nick adjusted the dial by a fraction, at which point he felt the strong tug of the grapple. It reeled slowly enough that he could walk casually without fear of losing his balance. When he reached the signpost the magnet detached and reunited itself with the gauntlet.

"How do you make it detach?" Judy asked.

"A button on the palm bit. You press and hold for three seconds." Nick answered, by now worrying where the reckless rabbit was going with this.

"Nick, did Honey ever tell you if the grapple was insulated or not?"

"Matter of fact she did-" Nick groaned. "No, no, no, whatever you're thinking, stop thinking it!"

Judy crossed her arms and widened her grin. "I think this just might work."

"Can you not hear me?"

"Judging from the distance it flew last time, it should be long enough to get us all the way across the ravine."

"What part of 'don't even think about it' do you not understand, rabbit?!"

A white paw shot out and grabbed the tie. Nick felt his brain hit the top of his skull as he was yanked down to Judy's level. Her glare looked so much more intimating up close. "I understand that we're working against the clock. In less than twenty-four hours Radames will unleash chaos on the entire city!"

"Yeah, you know how improbable that is, right? There's so much water the serum will just be diluted to nothing before it reaches the citizens."

Judy hesitated, her hard glare wavering.

"But then again, her triggering every collar on the hostages is totally doable." Nick added. "I still think this is a bad idea."

"If it wasn't too big, I'd use the Mag-Rider myself. You always said you wanted to make it up to Ben for exploiting him. Well, now's your chance."

_Aaaaaaaaaand she's got me._ "So, where do you suggest I shoot?"

Judy smiled, released his tie and pointed. "At that lamppost halfway along. We could swing right over the barricade. Will the Mag-Rider take it?"

Nick returned to the edge of the ravine and aimed at the distant lamppost. _Don't look down, do not look down…_ It took half a minute of minute adjustments before he heard the _beep_. "Yeah. The thing should be targeted now." He held out a paw to Judy. "Hang on tight. There's no turning back once I shoot."

Judy wrapped her slender arms around Nick's waist. Nick's face turned hot at the sudden embrace. "Then we won't look back." She said, not flinching when Nick wrapped his arm around her back and shoulders. "Don't forget to crank up the dial. I don't want to smash into the electrified barricade."

"Yeah, wouldn't want that. Very funny." Nick laughed nervously and rolled the dial. "You sure you can't just shoot the generator?"

"I can't get a clear shot. I'm pretty sure."

"You sure you're not just in it for the thrills?"

"JUST SHOOT!"

Nick took the shot before his mind could catch up. The magnet flew clear and true. In the three seconds before it hit its mark, Nick had just enough time to hear Judy say, "You know, maybe I could try the ri-"

The line went taught, and everything after that became a literal blur of darkness, cold air roaring past his ears, and the whir of the Mag-Rider. Judy's grip tightened almost to anaconda-like proportions. Nick scrunched his eyes shut and hugged her back, his other arm on the verge of popping out of his socket. Or maybe that was some leftover cabin fever-induced paranoia tricking his nervous system?

The next thing Nick knew, they were dangling from the top of the lamppost, almost two storeys off the ground. Heart pumping with blood and adrenaline, Nick looked down first at the road below, and then the bunny latched onto him like a bolas. When she looked up at him with those big, dilated eyes, he couldn't believe that she was grinning.

"Woah, mama! I have got to get me one of those!"

Nick stared at her. "You've got issues, Carrots."

Judy looked down and saw how high they were. "Any way to make that thing lower us down safely?"

"I don't think so. It's a prototype, or so Honey said." Nick said.

"Help me reach the post." Nick held Judy's paw as she pushed out with her legs and reached for the post, grabbing it easily. She pulled Nick along so he could grab the post himself; when he was sure he had a good hold, he squeezed the button until the magnet deactivated. Once they were both safely on solid ground, Judy rushed over to the generator and switched it off, disconnecting the cable as well just to be sure.

"Seriously, though!" Judy said while trotting back to Nick. "Your friend's a genius! No prey mammal I know has ever brought the Howlywood grappling gun so close to reality!"

"She'd appreciate you singing her praises like that." Nick said. "But now that we're deep in enemy territory, how about we keep our voices down from now on?"

"You're right, you're right." Judy panted. "Sorry, it's the adrenaline."

They were small enough to slip through the bars of the main gate, but the entrance was locked. They circled round the side of the building, finding a car built for megafauna. A window was smashed, and the remains of it were lying on the gravel among splatters of old blood. Nick's nose twitched, catching a familiar scent, so faint he couldn't identify what it was. He crept up to the car's door, reached for the bloodstained handle-

"On second thought, you take point." He stepped behind Judy and pushed her forward. Judy rolled her eyes, but vigilantly pulled out her weapon before opening the door. She shone her phone's flashlight inside, examining the interior.

She must have been feeling a little too cautious because she was taking a while. Nick parted her ears and poked her head between them, checking the interior himself.

"Empty." He muttered.

Judy sighed and batted his muzzle off her scalp. "So's the front." She climbed inside. She paused, seeing something, and picked it up with a pair of tweezers. "Cheetah fur."

Nick had already identified the scent. "Benji! He was here! What is he _is_ here?!"

"Easy, Nick. We'll find out after we find a way in." After some more searching they found a way in through a broken window, one of several, and smelled- Christ, the smell!

"Oh gosh." Judy whispered and pulled out her gun. They'd entered the cafeteria, and there was old food and dried blood everywhere. "Who are these mammals?"

"Let's just find the secret agents and get out of here." Nick stepped behind her, grabbed her shoulders and gently ushered her onward.

"You're right, you're right." The gun trembled in Judy's paws.

"First gruesome homicide scene?" Nick asked.

"Not really. I was the first officer on the scene when Dr. Lemming was-"

"Officer Hopps, I am going to kill you!"

Nick yanked Judy's aim upward when she spun round, just in case she accidentally pulled the trigger. In the left-hand doorway stood Agent Jack Savage, Agent Skyefall at his side. They looked the worse for wear but not seriously hurt. Both agents didn't seem surprised at their presence, but Savage looked almost, well, savage.

"Of all the thoughtless, reckless, idiotic rabbits to become the ZPD's first rabbit officer, it had to be you!" Jack pointed a pure white finger at them. "First the mountain, now this! What were you thinking, coming here?"

Nick stepped forward, frowning. Spies were supposedly known for their superior attitude, but this… "What were _you_ thinking, going radio-silent for two days? You could have been dead for all we knew!"

"The doctor's well hidden, and something is jamming communication signals in the area." Jack said. "We've had it under control."

Skyefall nodded. Something in that nod made Nick smell bullshit, but he didn't push the matter further. "If you were concerned, why didn't you tip off the ZBI?"

"Swinton is influencing their investigation somehow. Keeping them from making much progress." Judy said. "She could have moles among them."

"That's specist, Carrots."

"Not now, Nick!" Judy still had her gun out as she eyed Jack. "The point is, we don't know if there's anyone in the ZBI we can trust. You maybe, but the agents back in the city…"

Alyssa turned to Jack. "What about your contact in City Hall?"

"_Skyefall!_" Jack snarled at her and smacked his forehead.

Judy's ears pricked. "Contact? Who's the contact?"

"Classified!" Jack snapped at her. "It's bad enough that you know so much about the mission already! Go home, Hopps, before you get yourself and that fox killed!"

Judy growled and started to advance, "Look, you stripy, self-righteous-" But Nick stopped her with an arm.

"I apologize if our presence has severely complicated matters, but surely you can understand why we need to resolve this situation quickly? We have eighteen hours left before the Red Queen's deadline and you still haven't found the doc. Have you?"

Jack set his jaw. "We know where he is. Getting inside is another matter that doesn't concern you."

"No, it's not. But Benji being here is. I'm not leaving until I find him." Nick said. "Besides, our main reason for coming here is to give you this." With that, he pulled out the disk.

Jack's jaw dropped. "Why you-"

"Hey, it's your fault for taking so long!" Judy snapped. "Take the disk and shut up!"

"Woah, woah, woah!" Alyssa moved between them, paws out. "Let's just take it easy. Nick, thank you for your concern and for bringing the disk to us, now hand it over."

Nick handed it over. "Here. And tell Mr. Savage you're welcome."

Alyssa said, "You two need to leave, now. Most of the hostiles are AWOL right now, but that could change any minute."

_That explains the lack of a welcoming party._ Nick smiled slyly. "If they're not here, then they're probably in the forest outside. So unless you want us to walk back out into the lion's den…"

The look on Jack's face could theoretically melt steel. "See, this is why I work alone. So I can't get distracted by people ticking me off."

Nick's smile widened. "So you're no longer against us staying?"

"I'm not against locking you in a padded cell." Nick lost his smile, and Jack smirked.

"Hey, have either of you seen Captain Bogo or my other teammates?" Judy asked. "I came up here to meet with them, but they're missing."

Fortunately for the already strained relations between the four, Jack and Alyssa were more open with that information. Judy was visibly relieved to hear that McHorn and Higgins were alive and currently assisting Gabriel Mossberg in capturing Sedor. She wasn't so relieved that Bogo and Benjamin were the massive bear's prisoners, and neither was Nick.

"I have to go assist them." Judy breathed. "Which way to the lower floor?"

"There's an elevator that way." Jack pointed behind him. "We'll come assist as soon as we take out the jammer. You sure you can handle it?" Judy nodded. Jack was about to say more when he froze, his ears becoming erect. "Hear that?"

"What?" Nick asked.

"Wait, I hear it too." Judy said. "Gunfire. Downstairs."

"They must have reached the partitions." Jack said. "I'll go with Skyefall and deal with the jammer. Wilde, you're no fighter so you should come with us."

"That walking Bearmageddon's got Ben. I'm going with Carrots."

Nick and Judy took off before the matter could be argued further. Alyssa shouted after them but didn't pursue, and neither did Jack. It appeared they trusted the officer and fugitive more than they let on.

Judy reached the elevator first and hopped up to punch the button. Nick followed her inside, pulling off the rifle bag just in case the rabbit needed it.

As the elevator began to descend, Nick said, "Don't take it personally, Carrots."

"Huh?"

"Don't take what Stripes said personally. I have a feeling he doesn't like it when innocent mammals get dragged into his missions. He probably feels it'd be on him if something happened to you."

"I know the feeling." Judy looked up meaningfully at Nick, and again he felt that warm feeling from having someone show sincere concern for his wellbeing. "Besides, I'm responsible for my own actions."

Nick heard the gunfire before the elevator doors opened, and when they did, the sound amplified enough to make him cringe. The firefight was close by, close enough that he was worried they'd get hit as soon as they stepped into the clean white hallway.

Judy motioned for Nick to stay down as she crept to the doorway and very carefully peeked around.

"It's around the corner." She said. Nick followed her into the hallway. At the aforementioned corner was a wall riffled with bulletholes. Four more exploded into dust as Nick watched. Pressed against a wall, hiding from the hail of bullets, were Gabe, McHorn and Higgins. Nick swallowed at the sight of the latter two mammals.

"Carrots, I don't think those two will be happy to see me."

"Stay here." Judy accepted the rifle from him and approached the three mammals. Nick ducked back into the elevator, holding them open as he watched McHorn and Higgins react with shock at her arrival. He heard little of what was said over the gunfire. Something about two wolves with machine guns guarding the door leading to the area where the sloth was hiding. McHorn was holding a shotgun, which he shot around the corner during a brief pause in the machine gun fire. Higgins looked bad enough, but someone had really messed the rhino up. "We hit one, but it didn't stop him! No idea how much ammo they got!" Higgins said.

"Have you tried negotiations?" Judy asked.

"We're not in the mood for chatting with these assholes!" McHorn growled.

"Fine." Judy said, then shouted above the gunfire. "ZPD! LOWER YOUR WEAPONS IMMEDIATELY!"

"What the hell are you doing, Carrots? There's no reasoning with these guys?" Nick hissed even as the gunfire stopped.

"Who the fuck are you?" One of the wolves yelled harshly.

"Officer Hopps, ZPD! Lower your weapons and put your paws on your head!"

"Hopps? We've been having fun with your cocksucker friends! Wanna come play with us, too?" They laughed unpleasantly.

"This is your last warning. Throw your weapons over here!" Judy pressed again, ignoring the incredulous looks the other mammals were giving her.

"Or what? You'll fertilize us with your carrot cooter?"

Nick bit his lip with hot anger. _Bastards._

Judy went quiet for a moment. When she spoke again, she was eerily calm. "Do you have any idea who you're dealing with?"

"The White Queen Bitch who's supposedly smart enough to stop us?"

"Then you really don't know." Judy said. "I am a valedictorian of Precinct One."

With that she hefted her rifle, took a deep breath…

"Knock 'em dead, Carrots." Nick whispered.

… and then she _howled_.


	39. Alyssa IV

Alyssa was out of practice. Even though she was loathe to admit that, it was clear from Jack's growing impatience that he was starting to suspect.

"I can hear you grinding your teeth, Jack. I won't remind you again that lock-picking isn't as easy as it is in the movies."

"Neither is working on voluptuous vixens." Jack said.

Alyssa paused, her picks losing their grip on the pins. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Really? You don't know what voluptuous means?"  
"I know it means I'm hot. You said working _on_ voluptuous vixens."

"I said _with_."

"No, you said _on_. I wasn't that bad in bed, was I?"

"No, you were perfectly-" Jack covered his eyes. "God, I cannot possibly answer that as a professional."

Alyssa laughed, and the rabbit lowered his eyes in brief confusion. "I'm just being cheeky, love."

She went back to picking, fleeing the heat of Jack's glare on the back of her head. The cheering up she gave herself seemed to be just the ticket, because a minute later the door was open. "And Bob's your uncle."

"Watch out for traps. I don't want a repeat of the Director's Office." Jack started up the steps first, leaving Alyssa to watch their backs as they started up to the roof. It didn't escape her notice that his ears were drooped, and his shoulders were tense. He was still pissed.

Truth be told, once the amusement of her winding up Jack wore off, and she came across several bloody pawprints on the way up, so was Alyssa.

No matter how much she remembered her mission, her thoughts kept returning to the tablet, stuffed in a pouch she'd found in the armory. The videos and security clips Cheryl had provided had revealed so much, but Alyssa feared that she had only skimmed the surface of the tortures her mentor and the other abducted predators had endured. She needed to break something, something, not someone, and soon.

They reached the door at the top of the stairs, and after another bout of lock-picking they were on the rooftop and making a beeline for the jammer. It was a monstrosity, an ugly black metal and plastic machine the size of a cow. It looked custom-made.

"This is it, alright." Jack said, circling the jammer.

"So, let's shut it down." Alyssa hefted the shotgun she'd brought just for this, aiming it for the rods protruding from the top.

"Wait." Jack had stopped to the right of the machine. He hopped onto the top and knelt down. "There's a sensor on here."

Alyssa lowered the shotgun, embarrassed at her own recklessness. "What sort of sensor?"

Jack didn't answer until he took a more thorough look at whatever device he'd discovered. "Don't worry. I've seen this before and it's not an explosive trigger. It's rigged to trigger an alarm should we do anything to this machine."

"Like blasting it with an H&K Furbarm?" Alyssa asked.

"Absolutely." Jack actually looked amused. "Unfortunately, we can't disarm the sensor without triggering it."

"Fortunately, the only mammals around here who'll respond to the alarm are already being taken care of." Alyssa said. "Let's just destroy the thing and be done with it."

Jack considered the sensor for a moment before standing up. "Do it. I can't find an off switch."

"With pleasure." Alyssa waited until he was off the device before releasing some of her pent-up emotions. When the shotgun was empty, the jammer looked like an artist's abstract sculpture, but the destruction had helped.

Jack surveyed the remains before giving a satisfactory nod. "Now all we have to do is find a way to contact HQ. That shouldn't be too difficult. A facility this isolated must have a comms room."

"Let's use the cameras to find it." Alyssa said.

In the control room, Alyssa and Jack flicked through the cameras, searching for anything resembling a comms room. The cameras showed the main entrance, where Cheryl had been delivered to Slothgeld strapped to a silver platter. They showed the room where Cheryl had been beaten bloody by that dickhead, Cunninghorn. They showed the Director's Office, where in her final moments of sanity Cheryl had begged Alyssa to forget about her.

Alyssa couldn't forget Cheryl's face, the expression and mental pain and despair she'd struggled to suppress along with the madness Dr. Slothfeld had forced on her. She had seemed fine on the radio, that night when Jack's life was in their paws, but Cheryl was a tremendous actress, and she'd had two years to stitch together an appropriately convincing mask. Constantly wondering where Cheryl was, if Swinton had found her, and if she was still suffering, made Alyssa's anxieties rise to near-critical points.

"Jack, what will happen to Cheryl?" Alyssa asked.

"I don't know." Jack said blandly, flicking past the cafeteria feed. "Best case scenario is she goes away for life. Probably a mental institution if she's telling the truth about the Twilight Phenomenon."

Alyssa didn't bother asking about the worst case scenario. "And what about Slothfeld? What will happen to him once we find him?"

Jack paused before answering. "It's the disk they care about mainly, but they'll be wanting Slothfeld alive to answer for his crimes. And he's racked up a lot of them."

"Unless…" Alyssa waited for Jack to finish the sentence for her.

"Unless they see fit to make use of his scientific genius." Jack said. "The weapons division wouldn't want his skills wasted, but think about all the good he could do. The first time Theodore Swinton contacted him was to commission a cure for Alzheimer's. He'll never be a free mammal again, but with constant supervision and the right motivation, he could be a brilliant asset to the country."

Alyssa stabbed the button, switching her feed to the cell holding the captured wolf. He was sulking in the corner, so bored he was passing the time by cutting some sort of tally into his own arm. "You don't really believe that, do you?" She asked.

"Not fully." Jack said. "But us Animericans can be very persuasive."

Alyssa switched to another feed. "Other than that, he won't be getting what he deserves."

When she looked at him, Jack was giving her that intense, scrutinizing look she was becoming familiar with. "What are you implying, Alyssa?"  
"Nothing. It's just so unfair."

"Of course, it's unfair. But you know the consequences of failing a mission on purpose. I don't actually know for sure what they will do to him. They may even send him back to Boarland to face his original charges. Just focus on the mission, Alyssa. That's the only thing that should matter to you."

"You're right." Alyssa fell silent after that. She still wasn't entirely sure she wouldn't just step aside if those predators came to kill the sloth.

Two button-presses later, she found herself watching the two remaining wolves in the partitions hallway. They were standing right in front of the big door at the end. The entrance to XIBALBA, the place of fear. _A proper prison for a monster like you, doctor._

"Are they… howling?" Jack stared at the screen.

Alyssa nodded, watching as McHorn and Higgins came charging into view, quickly relieving the wolves of their machine guns and tackling them to the floor. McHorn, pinning Akela, the expert torturer, looked ready to give him a bloody good pasting. He even raised his fist before Higgins stopped him with a shout. Judy Hopps strode into view, lips pursed as she howled herself, only stopping once Higgins signaled that the wolves were completely incapacitated.

Alyssa laughed when it dawned on her what Hopps had done. "Dumb bunny my arse, she started a howl. I wouldn't have thought of that, would you?" She took Jack's silence as a no. "Bet you're glad she came now, aren't you?" Jack sighed and looked away from the screen. Alyssa rolled her eyes at his stubbornness.

"Alyssa…" Jack started.

"Jack, you don't need to worry about her all the time. She can obviously take care of herself."

"Alyssa." Jack repeated firmly. "The comms room."

On the monitor Jack had been searching, he'd come across the room they were seeking. According to the feed, the comms room was in the north-east corner on the top floor.

"At last." Jack walked along the edge of the control board and plucked two short-wave radios from the shelf. "We don't have much time left, so we should split up. You'll stay here and watch the cameras for any more trouble, and I'll head underground, tell the others comms are working and find a way into XIBALBA."

Alyssa accepted one of the radios, even though she didn't like being told to stay put. "Shouldn't I head to the comms room?"

"We need to make sure this place is secure when the helicopter gets here. That means someone has to keep watch. And the mammals downstairs may not fully trust you."

"Any more than the shady bunny from the 'Congressional Research Service?'" Alyssa asked with air quotes.

"Fair point." Jack conceded, even though Alyssa still ended up staying in the control room while he took off with the other radio.

While she whinged at thin air, she returned to the monitors and watched the mammals on the screen. By now they had bound both the wolves with the bloody rags of McHorn's police shirt. The rhino, now reduced to a similarly ragged tank top, was standing over Akela and saying something with a snide smile. Probably commenting of the irony of being tied up with the shirt Akela had cut up during his torture session. She returned to the camera showing the underground platform. Sedor was standing just outside the cable car, the 'beak' of his plague mask tilted upward. He must have heard the commotion nearby. While she kept an eye on the big bear, Alyssa resumed checking the feeds on the other monitor. Cheryl had to be around here somewhere. Alyssa had to find her before the ZPD did. There was no way they'd go easy on her, not after what she had done to their city. There had to be another area, another room, something they had missed during the initial sweep. She checked all the cells, the Director's Office, the gate behind the asylum-

"Ah shit!" Alyssa jumped to her feet when she saw the quad bike sitting at the end of dirty skid marks just outside the rear gate. She flicked through the feeds of the rooms closest to the rear entrance, hoping she hadn't taken too long to discover the intrusion. _Come on… come on… _She finally caught the intruder, a feline wearing the mask made famous by that killer from the _Howl_ movies, slipping into the elevator on the first floor.

She grabbed her radio. "Jack, come in!"

Jack answered instantly. _"What is it, Alyssa?"_

"We've got company! One masked mook heading your way, probably more, armed and bloody dangerous!"

_"__Well, I've just infiltrated the labs. Find out how many more there are while I warn the others."_

"Cool as a cucumber, like always." Alyssa muttered, even if it was one of the rabbit's more appealing personality traits. She kept the radio pinned between her ear and shoulder as she continued checking the feeds. It wasn't long before she caught another feline wearing a ski mask sprinting down a hallway on all fours.

The hallway right outside the control room.

Alyssa leapt from her chair, pulling out her gun, but it was already too late. A massive gloved paw slashed at her gun, sending the weapon flying and opening a long cut across the back of her paw. Alyssa rolled away, leaving a thin blood trail in her wake, putting as much distance between herself and the predator as she could.

The mammal glared at her with the burning eyes of a savage, crouched on three paws. The fourth picked up her gun and smashed it into pieces on the hard floor. The shotgun was behind him, on the console out of her reach.

"Who are you?" Alyssa asked. When he growled in response, she knew words were useless. On the Twilight spectrum, this predator was more night than day.

"Traitor…" Alyssa paused, shocked that he was still capable of speech. "A traitor to the Queen."

Alyssa braced herself to dodge. She had to get to that shotgun. "Where is she?"

He pounced before she could anticipate it. Instinct sent her diving to the side, into a collision with the skeletal corpse of the guard, left in the corner. She hit the body right beside his shirt pocket, where a black pen stuck out. Alyssa grabbed it, pulled the lid off and scrambled to her feet as the predator prepared for another attack.

She strafed to the side and thrust the pen, straight into the mammal's face. The nib opened a wide gash in the mask, exposing pale gold fur.

A lion. Male, judging from his voice. Ryan Roarson.

Roarson shirked away from the pen, feeling his jaw. Alyssa had read his file. He'd gotten caught tampering with TAME Collars a week before he disappeared, and before that had gotten busted for drug dealing. The only evidence they'd had was a small pouch on his person. It wouldn't even have sold for a hundred bucks. One small pouch was all it took to put him away for a decade.

And it was still nothing compared to being Slothfeld's prisoner for twenty months.

"Roarson, snap out of it!" She yelled as he lion advanced once more. "I know the Night Howler is making you act like this, but you have to stop."

Roarson snarled and swung at her. Alyssa raised her arms to block, but a fox's arms were no match for a lion's. He backhanded her back into the guard's corpse. She felt the ribs break under her weight and poke through the shirt.

She pulled the skull free and threw it with all her might. Roarson caught the skull as she ran, aiming to get to the shotgun. She almost had it when the world suddenly spun, and she ended up pinned under the lion's paw. It was massive compared to her slender body.

"For the Queen." Roarson raised the skull to bring it down on her head.

Alyssa struck first, plunging the pen into his wrist. Roarson did not cry in pain, but he drew his paw away on instinct. Alyssa scrambled away, finding herself back beside the dead body again.

That was when Roarson spotted the shotgun, and he picked it up. Alyssa glanced at the body, and the broken ribs that distorted the torso. One had pierced the shirt. Like a spike. Like a dagger. Alyssa gritted her teeth and pulled the rib free.

_Only one way this ends…_

Roarson, apparently not knowing how a safety worked, stood up and held the shotgun like a club. "The Queen shall win this game. She will have her revenge. We all will have our revenge."

Skyefall turned the rib in her paw. "Forgive me." She whispered.

She felt sadness and fear as she and Roarson ran at each other.

_All these predators… Cheryl, Sedor…_

She slid under the shotgun as Roarson swung at her…

_… __They're all Slothfeld's victims…_

Then she shot up from the floor, plunging the rib into his heart.

_… __Including you._


	40. Jack V

Jack pressed his back against the wall, peeking through the gap between said wall and a fire extinguisher at the group of mammals standing in between the open partitions. The C4 tripwires had been triggered by the gunfight, leaving small craters where the bombs had been. The wolves were in the corner, bound and disarmed, their weapons in a pile far out of their reach. Jack recognized his and Alyssa's pistols in the pile, too small for a wolf's paws.

_They must have kept the weapons with them in the unlikely event that their prisoners escaped. Smart._

Jack smiled when he saw his folded crossbow. They'd even kept the quiver and all its arrows. Despite this, he felt worry gnawing in his gut. The masked feline had taken this elevator. She had to have run right into these mammals. Yet there was no sign of her anywhere.

McHorn had just finished tying up the wolves with the already ragged pieces of his police shirt, leaving him in his tank top. He stood up, his bare arms red with numerous small cuts. "Jesus Christ, Hopps. Did you seriously just take out two gunmen with your voice box?"

Judy clearly couldn't help looking slightly smug. "Am I the only one who knows that when wolves hear howling, they howl too?"

McHorn huffed. "We've gotta add that to the corkboard. If we'd known that sooner, we might have avoided that crapstorm in the Canyonlands…"

Higgins looked at him incredulously. "That wasn't my fault! Those idiots issued me 45mms when I needed 9s!"

"Whatever." McHorn said. Standing just behind Judy was Nick, ears flat and tail wrapped around his legs as he stared up at the rhino. "Which way is the platform?"

"Through that door." Higgins said, jerking his thumb at a metal door further down the hall. "We should tread carefully. If the cable car's arrived, Sedor might have heard all that racket."

McHorn checked that his shotgun was loaded, and then checked how many extra shells were in his pocket. "Alright, here's the plan. Hopps, you come with me to deal with Sedor. Higgins, you stay here."

"Are you serious?" Higgins didn't like that. He quickly glanced down at Hopps, realizing how that sounded. "I mean, she did take out a rhino back in the academy, but he wasn't armored."

"Yeah, but I've got a plan to deal with that. And she's key to it." McHorn pointed down at Judy.

"Are you saying that I can't handle armored goons?"

"I'm saying that no-one here can both help Mansa and watch _them_ at the same time!" McHorn pointed to Nick and Gabriel. Gabriel was leaning against the wall, watching the wolves. "And you've got Savage and that vixen to keep an eye on as well!"

Higgins threw his arms up and sighed, argument lost. "Ok, fine. What about the howlers? Want me to stick them in a cell, too?"

McHorn nodded. "Better safe than sorry. Come on, Hopps."

Gabe pushed off the wall. "When he showed up at the Arctic House, all three of you almost got blown up. I can help."

McHorn gave him a look that snarled 'hell to the no.' Then Judy spoke up. "Lieutenant, he saved you from that torture chamber. I think he can be trusted."

McHorn grumbled something under his breath before turning to Gabe. "Don't get me wrong, I haven't forgotten you busting us out. But you try anything and I bust a cap up your ass."

Gabe nodded. "Sure."

McHorn shifted his attention to Nick. "You. Stay with Higgins. Or else."

"Or else you bust a cap up my ass, too. Got it." He looked to Judy, looking more worried than he had when the two razorbacks were pointing guns at him. "Carrots?"

Judy's ears pricked. "Yes."

"Take care."

Judy smiled and nodded.

Jack realized he had a decision to make. If he kept up the Congressional Research Service act, he'd be stuck upstairs under Higgins' watch. He had a cover to maintain, but he still had the fake ZBI badge. He'd used it on Hopps already, so she could back him up. It was up in the air how the more seasoned cops would react to losing their jurisdiction.

But his crossbow was right there. They were blocking his path to the labs. He'd have to explain how he managed to restore communications. He'd have to explain his actions to Miss Morton, and he was dreading that discussion, but the pros outweighed the cons here.

"Ah, well. Time to come clean." With that, he stepped out of the extinguisher's shadow.

McHorn and Higgins' reactions were just as predicted, while the surprise of those who knew his true nature were more subdued. "Savage! What're you doing here, you're supposed to be sitting tight!"

"I know, but I think it's time you knew the truth." Jack flipped open his badge. "I'm not with the Congressional Research Service. I'm ZBI."

"Wait, what?!" McHorn snapped.

"McHorn, it's true." Judy said.

McHorn did a double-take on the rabbit. "Hopps? You knew?"

"I found out when I ran into him the last time I was on this mountain. I'm sorry I kept it from you, but we had to protect his cover."

McHorn looked ready to start shouting, when Higgins quickly stepped in front of him. "Cool it, Mac. She did the right thing and you know it. Let me guess, Savage. Your mission is to track down the bastards behind this conspiracy."

"Affirmative." Jack said. Things were too far gone to call anything classified now, except perhaps the mind control collars. "I'm looking for the same mammal you are, the one who created the serum turning predators, and now prey, into savages. My mission is to find him, and all the evidence he has connecting him to Mayor Swinton. To do that I need to get into XIBABLBA, behind that last partition."

"Where's the vixen?" Higgins asked.

"Upstairs, watching the cameras. I trust her, and you should too." Jack said. After the worrying conversation in the control room, that was no longer entirely true. "Look, we don't have time for this. Another one of the terrorists has entered the facility and has made their way down here. I'll go check out the laboratories over then and track her down, and find a way into XIBALBA, while you do what you were already planning to do. Then we'll talk more about my pulling the wool over your eyes."

"Change of plan. Higgins and Wilde go with you." McHorn said.

Jack nodded, knowing it would be unwise to argue. "Does that sound like a plan?"

"It does." Judy said. "Right, guys?"

McHorn snorted. _Yes, definitely the juris-friction type._ "It does, but only because Bogo still needs help. Let's move out."

_Well, that went better than I hoped_, Jack thought before he handed over the radio and told them about the disable jammer. Plans were made to call for assistance as soon as Sedor was dealt with, and they split up.

Jack watched Judy, Gabe and McHorn as they disappeared through the passage to the platform, and for a moment considered going with them. But the other mammal was still around here somewhere, and so long as they were those officers were in danger.

_One thing at a time._ Higgins and Nick waited by the laboratory entrance while Jack retrieved his crossbow and quiver. A keycard would not be necessary for this door, for it had been forced open so violently that one side looked like crumpled tin foil.

Wary for any sign of the feline, Jack and his unwanted companions entered a short hallway with a smashed ceiling light. There were three doors, all in the same condition as the first. One wall had smeared pawprints formed from aged brown blood.

"I know that geeks aren't very popular, but this takes the cake." Nick said.

They saw how right he was when he entered the first lab.

It was carnage, far worse that the asylum above. The metallic benches and machines were still in place, so Jack was able to recognize its purpose for experimenting with chemicals, but everything else was a mess. The lights were smashed, forcing Higgins and Jack to use flashlights. Broken glass was everywhere. A chemistry analyzer lay in pieces beneath a spider web crack in the wall. Some of the surfaces had blood and splattered chemicals on them. Great rage and hatred went into the destruction of this lab.

Probably similar to what Alyssa was feeling right now.

She would likely be quite cheesed if she knew the real reason Jack had made her stay in the control room. He should have seen it coming. Alyssa was far too often governed by her emotions, and she practically idolized Radames. If she was already upset about the likely possibility of Slothfeld getting nothing more than a slap on the wrist, how would she feel if she walked into XIBALBA, where the experiments on Radames and the other predators had taken place, and it sunk in just how much they had suffered at the doctor's hands? Jack knew the consequences of defying orders. Alyssa knew the consequences. But with everything they had learned, there was no telling what would happen if she and Slothfled ended up in the same room together.

"Hey, maybe we'll find something in that." Nick said. Jack pointed his flashlight at a large, normal wooden desk with both drawers fully pulled out, surrounded by notebooks and papers. Perhaps the predators had been so blinded by primal fury that they had missed the key to getting to the sloth responsible for their suffering. An unlikely situation, but he couldn't afford to overlook anything. "Wilde, make yourself useful." He and Nick walked over to the desk and bent down to search the scattered papers, while Higgins volunteered himself to secure the other two labs. Jack didn't pay too much attention to the contents, but when he did he saw enough to discern that the desk had belonged to Slothfeld's assistant, one Marvin Kaufmann. That reminded him of something else that had to be done once the primary mission was completed: identify and account for all the staff involved in this project. He'd have to find some sort of staff list once it was convenient, even though he doubted that any of them were still alive. He knew for certain that at least three were dead, the corpses in the jeep where he- where Judy had found the disk.

He lifted a raised pile of papers on the desk to find a thick high-quality notebook underneath, and almost ignored it when he noticed 'Kaufmann' written on it. Jack reached out, his paw freezing just before it touched the book. "What're you waiting for?" Nick asked.

"We're wasting time. The keycard isn't here."

"But this notebook belonged to Slothfeld's assistant. There could be a clue."

Unable to fault the fox's logic, Jack picked it up and flipped through the pages. Nothing was dated, and Kaufman's handwriting left something to be desired. Eventually he found a page that mentioned XIBALBA and started reading.

_Had a hell of a show in XIBALBA today. Subjects #4 and #15 were ordered to have a knife fight in the central room of the testing area, as part of the latest batch of tests to determine if the collars were capable of giving very precise instructions. For this test, our subjects were given five instructions:_

_1\. __Do not kill your opponent._

_2\. __Use nothing but the knives you are given._

_3\. __Punches and kicks are forbidden._

_4\. __Maria must avoid Starlight's head and abdomen._

_5\. __At the sound of the alarm, Maria must immediately forfeit the fight._

_The test had mixed results. While the first four rules were followed during the course of the fight, Subject #4 showed extreme reluctance to follow the fifth rule when the alarm sounded, forcing Slothfeld to shock her into submitting. During our routine discussion with Dr. Lemming, he surmised that Subject #4's resistance was caused by the Twilight Phenomenon. Maria Manchas, as a hitmammal and enforcer for Mr. Big's criminal organization, had a reputation for being extremely professional with her work, to the point of being compared to the 'Verminator.' After being injected with Version 1 and subsequently developing the Twilight Phenomenon, her behavior toward killing changed drastically. She now takes intense pleasure in slowly killing her victims, and will always see a fight through to the end. When ordered to stop the fight with Subject #15, being prevented from finishing the fight on her own terms had enraged Subject 4 to the point of disobedience._

_As further proof of Dr. Lemming's theory, Subject #4 has spent the entire evening demanding a rematch. _

_The Twilight Phenomenon is essential to the effectiveness of the new TAME Collars, so resolving this issue has become top priority. Slothfeld has scheduled a meeting with Dr. Lemming to discuss how to prevent future incidents. _

"We should probably warn Gabe that his wife has a mortal enemy." Nick said. "Don't you agree?"

"I do." Jack turned a couple of pages until XIBALBA was mentioned again.

_The "good doctor" finally let me catch a break. Starting from tomorrow, I'm no longer dividing my time between assisting him with XIBALBA and developing the antidote, instead focusing entirely on the antidote for Version 2. In fact, he's put me entirely in charge. I'd feel honored, except there's not much use in an antidote when none of those predators will ever be cured. The antidote vials for Version 1, the 'Twilight' serum, are still under lock and key in Slothfeld's personal lab, in case of accidents. I guess he wants an antidote for Version 2 for the same reason. _

_On that note, I'm sort of glad I'm no longer doing much work in XIBALBA. I understand the need to test how much influence the collars have over the subjects, but Slothfeld is starting to go a little over the top…_

Jack skipped ahead a few pages, feeling more at ease. Knowing there was a cure for Radames's affliction would make Alyssa happy. Nick made a small noise. "Version 2. That must have been the serum used on me. Hopefully there's more around here somewhere… what are you looking at, rabbit?"

"No reason." Jack said automatically. "Actually, I'm just wondering why you were the only predator given an antidote."  
"Why did she spend weeks posing as my security guard?" Nick said with a shrug. "Maybe she only had so much antidote to work with, and picked me because I was Swinton's scapegoat?"

Nodding in agreement, Jack skipped some more pages until he saw a reference to Radames and Slothfeld.

_I'm still in shock. Now Slothfeld wants to widen the age range in his test subjects. He's not just talking about seniors. He wants babies as well. Bloody babies! Now I know why he's so interested in that fox's pregnancy. Normally I can push my discomfort aside by reminding myself that the end will justify the means, but I can't stop thinking about one of the latest XIBALBA Behavioral Experiments. To put it simply, Subjects #1 and #2 were ordered to mate. It started as always, with Slothfeld giving the order while their minds were still their own. When they naturally refused, he activated the collars and repeated the order. They obeyed so readily that I almost thought they were genuinely enjoying it. I won't deny that it made me feel a little sick when I heard about it later. Slothfeld's always been lax with what he calls "petty morality," but this is going above and beyond. I'm starting to think he doesn't really believe in prey supremacy. He just wants a lifetime's supply of subjects to experiment on without consequence._

_I'll call Woolton tomorrow, so he can pass the message on to Swinton. She has to put a stop to it. Forcing predators to do sick and twisted things to each other for our own amusement is not what the collars were built for. In the meantime, I'll continue to keep an eye on #1 and #2. They behaved erratically during the first two days since the experiment, and Dr. Lemming assured us it was typical behavior for victims of sexual assault, but now they're unusually quiet. When they look at the security cameras, we see pure hatred. I think they're catching on…_

"That sick bastard." Nick muttered.

Jack lowered the notebook, feeling slightly sick himself. This was so much worse than he thought, and he wasn't just thinking about the 'experiment.' If Alyssa found out, she'd eviscerate Slothfeld for sure. Then Miss Morton would blame Jack for not stopping her, and nobody would win. He flipped until he reached blank pages and turned back until he came across an entry about something about the collars.

_I was right. The behavioral influencing collar is only 100% percent effective so long as its function remains a mystery. Once the subject becomes aware that the collar is influencing their actions, effectiveness drops to roughly 60-15%, depending on the resilience of the subject. Subject #14, Gabriel Mossberg, had figured it out, and that was how he was able to fake his coma and escape. I shared my calculations with Slothfeld, and he agrees with me, but he insists that we wait until we have found a solution before we share our findings with Swinton. I warned him about #1 and #2, that their growing resistance to the collars is connected to my discovery, but he believes that they are of little concern._

_The alarm has just sounded. Something's happening._

The next page was blank and torn.

Jack hoped that Slothfeld was dead. That his shriveled heart had failed him while he hid in that cursed place. That when they found him, his corpse would be so decayed that there was no way the investigators would hold Alyssa or Jack responsible. That Alyssa wouldn't be able to ruin her own life by murdering him in cold blood.

He owed her too much to let her do that do herself.

Before Higgins could come back and catch him, Jack flipped back to the page detailing what Radames and the bear had been forced to do to each other and ripped it out. Nick said and did nothing as the rabbit tore it up into little pieces and scattered them across the fallen papers. They looked at each other, nodding in an unspoken agreement. Alyssa could never know.

Almost completely hidden beneath the gentle pitter-patter of the paper shreds settling on the floor, was the smallest of creaks. Jack's ear twitched and he tackled Nick to the side, feeling a sting in his ear as it heard a knife stabbing loudly into the notebook right where he'd been kneeling. Jack rolled to his feet beside the destroyed chemical analyzer, crossbow aimed at the masked feline, and fired. She lifted the knife, letting the arrow sink harmlessly into the notebook skewered on the blade. She twirled the knife, ignoring that the tip had broken off.

"You need to pay more attention, zebra-boy." She sneered. "I almost took your ear off."

Jack felt blood trickling down his right ear. He dropped the crossbow and pulled out his handgun while Nick backed up against the desk. "You shouldn't have brought a knife to a gunfight, sweetheart."

The feline removed the mask, and Jack recognized Maria Manchas from her file. She had a reputation as one of the most dangerous predators in the criminal underworld... as did most of the mammals she'd killed.

The feline laughed. Her eyes were wide and dilated, even though it was dark. "Wouldn't be the first time. Or the sixteenth. And I'm still here, aren't I?"

Jack adjusted his aim to her forehead. "And how, may I ask, did you manage that?"

"By cheating."

She flung the knife and notebook straight at Jack's face. He ducked, letting the weapon pass over his head, and aimed at Maria again, only to see that she had gone. He swiveled on the spot, but there was no sign of her. And there were hundreds of places in this asylum where she could hide.

"This could be trouble." He muttered.

Just when he thought things couldn't any more complicated, there was the short screech of speakers coming to life. Jack looked up to the corner of the ceiling, at a speaker he hadn't seen before.

_"Subject #2. You returned just in time."_ Jack's eyes narrowed. He recognized that voice from videos he'd watched before he started the mission. So he was still alive after all.

Higgins ran into the lab. "Who the hell is that?"

"The good doctor." Jack said. He wondered if Alyssa was hearing this, too.

Slothfeld's tone was blatantly sardonic. _"I see that you've recovered much of your past since you escaped from your cage. Tell me, does this jog your memory?"_

A child's voice came from the speak, high-pitched with fear. _"Uncle Sid? Uncle Sid, help me, plea-"_ The voice cut off.

"Uh oh." Said a feminine voice from somewhere in the dark lab. Higgins raised his weapon and started searching. Jack did the same, while Nick stayed by the desk, listening to the sloth's threats.

_"Do you recognize the voice of your godson? Of course you do. And if you thought the experiments on you were abysmal, believe me, they are nothing compared to what I will do to little Morris if you don't do as I command."_

"Fuck…" Maria said from somewhere behind a row of workbenches. "Not good, this is not good…"

_"Luckily for you, my instructions are quite simple. Kill the other subjects. Every last one of them. Kill the other mammals in this place. Deal with the traps. It doesn't have to be in that order. After that, when I give the order, you will stand back and do nothing as I walk out of here. If you try to come after me, Subject #15 here will start cutting pieces off of little Morris. I'll tell her to save the tongue for last, so you can hear him better. If I don't see a body in five minutes, Morris loses an ear. Understand?"_

The speaker fell silent.

"Well, shit." Maria said.

Jack swiveled his ears, trying to determine her location.

"Why are you working with Sedor, Manchas?" Nick asked. "Mr. Big won't appreciate you defecting."

"Going back to Big right now won't help me get my paws on Slothfeld." Maria said from no discernible direction. How was she doing that?

"So revenge is your M.O. Funny, you don't seem all that bothered that you're a psycho now."

"True, but I don't appreciate being ordered to jump through hoops for science."

"You're not worried the Angry Bird of Black Death could turn against you?" Nick asked. Jack motioned for him to keep her talking.

"Hell, no." Maria said.

"And how do you know?" Nick asked.

"'Cause Uncle Sid's not stupid. He knows the Knave will kill the kid once he's home free." Maria said. Jack peeked around the corner of a bench, but there was no sign of her.

"Show yourself, Manchas!" Higgins yelled from the other side of the room.

Maria stayed hidden. "More likely he'll just lose his fucking mind."

"He's in Twilight, like the rest of you." Nick said. "Hasn't he lost his mind, already?"  
"Not really. You know why he's in charge when the Red Queen's not around? It ain't because he's a boss. He's better at keeping it together than the rest of us. But when he loses it… _he fucking loses it._"

Jack heard Nick gulp. "That bad, huh?"

"Understatement of the century. I think I'll stay put here until he gets a hold of himself. I saw your friends heading his way earlier. Hopefully ripping them up into red and blue snowflakes will calm him down."

Nick's breath hitched. "Judy."

Jack turned to say something to Higgins, and that was when he spotted the black shape in the shadow beneath the desk behind the hippo, a knife gleaming in its paw.

"Behind you!"

Higgins spun in the nick of time. Not quick enough to avoid injury, but just quick enough to receive a cut across the shin rather than the intended severing of his Achilles tendons. He fired at the desk, but Maria had already vacated her hiding place. Jack hadn't even seen her move.

"Wilde, where the hell are you going?" Higgins shouted.

Nick was running for the door. "I have to get to Carrots!"

"Carrots? Aren't you a pred?" Maria asked, sounding genuinely bewildered. "Wait, _you're_ Wilde?"

"Don't be stupid, you dumb fox!" Higgins charged after him. Jack initially followed before stopping at the door.

"Go. I'll take care of her!"

Higgins spared him a nod before continuing his pursuit.

Jack turned back to face the lab. For some reason he thought of the church in Liondon, where he'd captured Trevlyan and thought he'd killed Doug Ramses with a giant iron bell. One by one he'd eliminated Trevelyan's goons before he'd acquired the main target. Now he himself was no different from a goon, just standing here in the darkness waiting to be picked off.

_To hell with that._ Jack aimed his gun at the shadows, ears erect, eyes sharp. He was in control, and he was going to prove it.

"Come out and fight, Manchas!" He yelled into the gloom.

"And get a face full of Parabullum for my trouble? I might be psycho, cutey-boy, I'm not stupid!"

Jack flexed the fingers holding the gun. "Then we have ourselves a good old-fashioned standoff."

There was a giggle from somewhere in the room. "Yes, we do. Just until Sedor finishes off your friends and smells you out."


	41. Bogo VI

Hidden behind his large body, Bogo's tail swished from side to side. It was still sluggish, but a clear improvement from the last time he tested his ability to move. He couldn't try moving the rest of his body, not with a homicidal bear in the same room with him.

To the buffalo's relief, the infuriating bat Levvar had took off midway through the cable car's journey through Founder's Mountain. The cut he'd made was still bleeding slightly, and the bat had made more than a few jokes about bleeding him dry in between licks. He only stopped after he suggested severing Bogo's other jugular and Benjamin threw a pebble at him. An angry growl from Sedor prompted the bat to vacate the cable car and make his own way to the asylum citing that he needed a urine break, anyway.

Benjamin was sitting beside Sedor, weighed down by the bear's big gloved paw on his shoulder. His eyes were on Bogo, but he appeared to be lost in his own thoughts. Bogo wished he could move, so he could tell the cheetah he was sorry. Two days he'd spent on this mountain, scared for his life, pursued by Sedor and God knows how many other crazies. He didn't deserve that. It never should have happened in the first place. If only Bogo hadn't talked Elba into taking him to the safe house. If he hadn't led Cunninghorn right to the kid and then let that bastard get the drop on them…

Small bright lights shone through the windows and across his eyes, and the cable car swayed as it slowed to a stop. _So this is it,_ Bogo thought. _The belly of the beast._

Sedor stood up, leaving his captured quarry on the seat, and pulled the door open. He stepped out, and he then stopped and sniffed the air.

"Ok, we're here." Benjamin said. "Now can we please treat Bogo before that bite gets infected?"

Sedor said nothing. He kept his masked snout turned upward, sniffing hoarsely.

Benjamin stood up. "Look, I'd rather not leave this cable car until I know what you're going to do with us! Can you even talk at-" He stopped, his ear twitched, and Bogo heard it, too.

Somewhere above them, someone was firing a machine gun.

Sedor acted swiftly, turning around and pulling the cable car door shut. Before Bogo could wonder how he would keep it shut, he heard something big and heavy being pulled up next to it. The bear made a loud grunt, probably a warning not to do anything stupid, and disappeared from sight.

Benjamin pulled at the door, but it only moved a few centimeters before stopping. He looked through the window. "Darnit. He's put it up against that metal bit sticking out."

He knelt down beside Bogo, big brown eyes swimming with apology. "I'm sorry, Bogo. I never meant for any of this."

Bogo blinked. "… I'm sorry, I'm confused. What part of this mess is your fault?"

The cheetah gasped. "Wait, you can speak?!"

"I could feel it wearing off for the last hour." Bogo grunted when Benjamin threw his arms around him, only to gasp in pain and let go. ""Ow, ow, ow! Ribs! Oh, thank goodness! The file said the effects weren't permanent, but I was so worried! Are you okay?" Benjamin lightly smacked his forehead. "Sorry, stupid question. Can you move anything yet?"

"I can still move my tail. Not much use without any flies to swat with it." Benjamin covered his mouth as he giggled. How he could still laugh after everything he'd been through, Bogo would never know. "I should be asking if you're okay."

"Ribs. Probably not busted, but I don't think I should do that again. Thank Cunninghorn."

"Bastard." Bogo muttered. "He's dead by the way. Got mauled to death by whatever bit me. Couldn't have happened to a nicer dick."

Benjamin did not look as happy as Bogo felt. He hugged himself as he stared at the floor between him and Bogo. "I led him to that monster. I wanted it to stop him from chasing me. I didn't really mean for it to kill him. Even with the venom, I didn't think it could."

"Don't do that. He brought this all on himself. Let's see what else I can move." Bogo tried the arms first. They were stiff and heavy, but he managed to prop himself up on his elbows.

Benjamin held his shoulders to keep him steady. "You should get a part in _Zoo Bloods_. You'd make a pretty good corpse."

"And never live it down for the rest of my life? No thanks." Bogo found he could move his legs as well, and slowly shifted until he was sitting against the wall. "So, what the hell was that thing?"  
"Thing?"

Bogo shakily held his arm out, showing him the bite. "The thing that did this to me."

"Oh, that." Benjamin sat down next to him. "You're never going to believe me."

"After everything I've been put through on this damn mountain? I'm a buffalo, not a buffoon."  
Benjamin briefly smiled at that. "Good point. The other night, I found a hidden stash of information under the church in the town back there. It was all stuff related to Roarcadia."

"Roarcadia? What does that have to do with this?" He pointed to the teeth marks on his forearm.

"A lot. Turns out, it's only the second time they tried out Project Twilight." Benjamin blinked. "Hang on, I've got one of the reports with me. I figured I might need some proof." He pulled a folded-up report from his pocket and handed it to Bogo.

Bogo barely started reading the first paragraph before they heard a crash.

Benjamin shot up and ran back to the window. "Omigosh!"

It took some effort for Bogo to get up, but at least he was able to stand. The collar on his wrist beeped when he saw what was happening on the platform outside.

McHorn, reduced to his tank top and covered in numerous cuts and bruises, had tackled Sedor through a nearby door with enough force to tear it from its hinges, and now the two of them were roughing it out on the stone floor. The bone shears lay in the corner, just out of Sedor's reach, and a shotgun was pinned between their massive bodies as they fought for control of it.

"Captain!" Bogo couldn't believe it when Judy Hopps jumped up in front of the window, standing on top of the metal crate that kept the door from opening. "Captain, are you alright?"

"Hopps?!"

"Sir, I can explain!"

"Don't care! Go help McHorn while I try and get this thing open!"

Judy hopped off and took off toward the brawling megafauna, just as Sedor managed to extricate himself with a punch to McHorn's chest.

"Ben, help me push!" Bogo grabbed the handle and the edge of the door and pushed with all the strength he could muster. Benjamin joined him in his efforts, grabbing the handle with both paws and pulling. There was a nasty scraping sound as the crate slowly and surely began to budge.

"Need some help?" Came an unfamiliar voice from the other side of the door, and then the door started opening a little faster.

Through the window, Bogo could see Sedor holding his own against his officers. McHorn was kneeling on the floor, visibly winded as he clutched his chest, as Judy kept the great bear occupied. She hopped, rolled and bounded off the metal crates in the room, many times missing a direct hit by the skin of her teeth. Only one mammal had ever beaten Sedor in a fist fight, and right now Sedor was running on pure Twilight-induced madness.

And he only had to hit the little bunny once.

He very nearly did just that on the next swing, striking Judy with a glancing blow that separated her from her tranq gun. Judy dropped to the floor, clutching her arm, and made to retrieve her fallen weapon, only for a vampire bat to swoop down and beat her to it.

"Too slow to stop us, _Cuniculus_!" Levvar called, laughing as he flew high above her reach.

"I really hate that bat." Bogo whispered as he pushed harder against the crate.

Behind her, Sedor picked up his shears and strode up to her. Judy sensed his approach, too late to evade him before he grabbed her. Bogo's collar beeped red as Sedor opened the big black shears around Judy's neck.

"OH, NO YOU DON'T!" McHorn bellowed as he grabbed Sedor's arm and twisted, making him drop the bunny. He forced the limb behind the bear's back and wrapped his other arm around the neck.

_"Subject #2. You returned just in time."_

McHorn and Sedor stopped in the middle of the headlock and looked up at the speaker fixed to the wall above their heads. Sedor growled, the ugly sound twisted so it sounded almost like a name.

"I was beginning to think you'd perished from malnutrition, Knave." Levvar spoke, all humour gone from his face and tone.

Benjamin looked up at Bogo, who had already come to the same conclusion. "Slothfeld."

_"I see that you've recovered much of your past since you escaped from your cage. Tell me, does this jog your memory?"_

A child's voice came from the speaker, and Sedor became completely still in McHorn's grasp. _"Uncle Sid? Uncle Sid, help me, plea-"_ The voice cut off.

_"Do you recognize the voice of your godson? Of course you do."_ Slothfeld said._"And if you thought the experiments on you were abysmal, believe me, they are nothing compared to what I will do to little Morris if you don't do as I command. Luckily for you, my instructions are quite simple. Kill the other subjects. Every last one of them. Kill the other mammals in this place. Deal with the traps. It doesn't have to be in that order. After that, when I give the order, you will stand back and do nothing as I walk out of here. If you try to come after me, Subject #15 here will start cutting pieces off of little Morris. I'll tell her to save the tongue for last, so you can hear him better. If I don't see a body in five minutes, Morris loses an ear. Understand?"_

The speaker fell silent, leaving a low rumbling in its place.

"Oh, boy." Levvar dropped the dart gun and fled into the tunnel.

It took a moment for Bogo to realize where the rumbling was coming from. Sedor was shaking in McHorn's grip, the sound growing louder and louder until he roared, wrenched his arm free and threw the rhino over his head. Then he threw himself on McHorn and sank his teeth into the rhino's throat.

"MAC!" Bogo roared.

"No, stop!" Judy ran toward the bear, firing her gun uselessly.

The unseen mammal assisting with the blocked door cursed. "Shit! Can you take it from here?"

He didn't wait for an answer before running toward the skirmish. Bogo recognized his blue hoodie from the Arctic House Incident but that meant nothing to him, not when Sedor was atop his friend, jaws locked around his throat while he hit him over and over, blood flying from the blades with each swing.

"You bastard! _You bastard!_" Judy torpedoed herself into Sedor's head, knocking the mask and hat from his head, followed by Gabe stabbing him in the shoulder, the tip not even sinking an inch thanks to the armor beneath the coat. The distraction was enough for McHorn to punch him off and roll away, leaving bloody smears in his wake.

Bogo squeezed through the gap in the door, bellowed a wordless vow of vengeance, and felt Benjamin's paw grab his sleeve and hold him back.

"Bogo, no!" He begged, eyes wide with terror. "You'll trigger your collar!"

Bogo looked at Benjamin's pleading eyes, then down at the bright red light on his collar. "Damn it." He growled.

"Keep at it, Hopps!" The feline in blue shouted, drawing their attention back to the fight. He and Judy were dodging Sedor's attacks while at the same time drawing him away from McHorn. He was slicing at the bear with his kukri blades whenever he got close enough to make a hit, searching for a weak spot in the body armor. Sedor was on all fours, blood-stained teeth bared to the point the gums were showing as he swiped and lunged at the smaller mammals, succeeding in sending the feline rolling across the floor. His face was exposed now. As good a target as any for Judy's dart gun. But Bogo understood the problem. Sedor was moving too fast for her to get a good shot.

"Carrots!" Bogo turned his head and saw the fugitive Nicholas Wilde in the doorway.

"Nick?!" Benjamin cried.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" Bogo said.

Nick was knocked aside as Higgins came barreling through the doorway, charging over the fallen door and tackling the bear himself.

Bogo looked again at the collar on his wrist, and then he picked up the kukri and moved himself behind Sedor as he grabbed Higgins by the belt and shit and lifted him above his head. Benjamin ran to the side as the hippo soared past him and hit the side of the cable car. An ominous creaking sound came from the grip above.

Bogo seized his chance, wrapped the arm with the collar around Sedor's neck and slid the kukri under the strap.

Sedor froze.

"There's C4 inside the collar, rigged to blow if any attempt is made to cut it off. That's what your Queen said." Bogo spoke into Sedor's ear. In the headset the bear was wearing, Bogo thought he heard a female voice. "If you ever want to see your godson again, you'll hold still and let my officer tranq you. Got it?"

Higgins was on the floor, his large face bruised and bleeding from the numerous punches Sedor had dealt him. "Take the shot, Hopps."

Judy didn't hesitate, hitting Sedor in the neck just under the hinge of his jaw. The collar beeped with a different, higher tone than before.

Sedor snarled at the pain of the needle piercing his flesh… and then he pulled out the dart, grabbed Bogo's arms and wrenched them apart.

Bogo staggered back, the collar falling from his wrist to the floor between them.

It hit the stone with a clatter, and still it didn't explode.

"What the-"

Sedor spun round and roared as he grabbed the buffalo, tackling him into the side of the cable car, shaking the entire carriage. The grip holding the car to the cable creaked again.

"Sir, watch out!" Judy loaded another dart as she raced over to help, distracting Sedor with a kick to the head. Sedor grabbed the bunny, threw her towards a wall and thrust the bone shears at Bogo's gut. Bogo grabbed the shears and redirected them away from his body as they continued to struggle.

"Bogo, the cable car!" Benjamin ran forward and grabbed Sedor's arm, trying to wrest the shears away from him. Sedor pulled away at the same time Bogo tried to pull him down, toppling the three of them into the cable car.

Bogo heard a crack over their heads, and the cable car shook. He locked eyes with Benjamin and saw the dawning horror on the cheetah's face.

"Get the hell out of there!" They heard the fox holler.

It was McHorn who appeared, panting and dripping blood as he reached in and dragged Benjamin out by the tail.

A second later the carriage broke free.

The world span around them in a blur of metal, glass and stone. Bogo thought he collided with Sedor several times on the way down. He didn't remember the moment the carriage stopped rolling down the side of the tunnel.

The next thing he knew, he was flat on his back on the carriage's crumpled ceiling, the air knocked out of him. He had to turn his head to see through a smashed window and spot Sedor lying on the rocks nearby, having fallen out of the open door during the fall. He was dimly aware of his friends and allies shouting his name.

The bear stirred, and then slowly got to his feet. Saved by both his armor and his species' natural resilience to death, no doubt. The coat had been ripped apart in the fall; the right sleeve sleeve, and everything between the shoulder and belt had been torn away; Bogo could see the armor now, a suit of black plates that looked like plastic. It didn't even look military grade. An abstract of scratches, dents and bulletholes covered the chest. Sedor staggered, either from the fall, the tranquilizer, or both. Bogo willed himself to move. He turned over onto his stomach and started to crawl for the open, contorted door, cursing the bear for getting rid of his guns earlier.

As he reached the door, he looked back through the smashed window and saw that Sedor was gone. Bogo stared at the empty tunnel beyond the window, and then decided that the bear's decision to leave him be was no longer something to be surprised at.

He had more important things to worry about now.


	42. Judy V

The next thing Judy knew after being tossed through the air was hitting a cushion of fabric, fur and muscle.

Nick hit the floor, hard, and skidded across it like a hockey puck until a metal crate stopped him dead. Judy tightened her arms around him, frozen stiff with the sudden realization of what her small body would have been reduced to had Nick not gotten between her and the wall.

"Son of a bitch." Gabe breathed once he managed to extricate himself from under the crate that had fallen on him. "No wonder I've never heard him talk. Hopps?" He saw her and Nick on the and raised his eyebrows. "Are you… spooning?"

Nick looked down at the bunny in his arms and let go with an awkward chuckle. "Touchdown!"

Judy lightly smacked his arm, retrospective horror gone. "I'm not a football, Nick!"

"Could have fooled me." Nick said. Judy didn't know what had gone through his head when he'd leapt up to catch her, and where he'd summoned the strength and precision to perform such a feat. Her logical side blamed it on adrenaline.

"And Nick?" Judy paused, then smiled. His obvious attempt to hide his embarrassment was cute, in an endearing sort of way. "Thanks for the save."

A shout from the edge of the platform drew their attention. Higgins, McHorn and Benjamin were on their hands and knees, shouting down into the abyss. "Captain!" Higgins hollered, his panicked voice bouncing all around the tunnel walls. "Are you alright?!"

Judy's jaw dropped. "Oh my gosh, where's the cable car?!"

Sedor must have hit her harder than she thought, for she hadn't noticed right away that the cable car was _gone_, and so were Bogo and Sedor. Gabe cursed and scrambled to his feet.

Judy beat him and Nick to the platform edge by a wide margin, stopping just short of the precipice. "CAPTAIN!"

She jumped back when her superior suddenly roared back. "FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, I'M NOT DEAF!"

"Bogo!" Benjamin clapped his paws to his mouth, stifling a sob.

Judy looked further over the edge to see the cable car about twenty feet below. It was dent and scarred from rolling down the hill and had shed a ton of scrap metal, but it was in one piece. Bogo was pulling himself through a smashed window when he suddenly dropped unceremoniously to the rocky floor of the tunnel. "Christ, I couldn't make myself heard with all you lot shouting at the same time!"

Standing just behind Judy, Nick put his paws on his hips. "How the hell are you still standing?"

Bogo stood up and rolled one shoulder. "Sedor may be a few bees short of a hive, but he makes a good crash pad."

"Where _is_ Sedor?" Higgins asked. "Did he break his neck or something?"

"I can only wish." McHorn said.

Judy looked at him, spotting at least two stab wounds before the large rhino suddenly keeled over.

"Shit!" Higgins and the others scrambled to the lieutenant's side. Bogo shouted up from the tunnel, demanding to know what was happening. His shouts became more agitated when no-one answered.

Judy's heart sank when she looked over the rhino and saw the extent of the damage. Rhinos were tough, and McHorn was one of the biggest she'd ever met, but there was no doubt that he needed attention.

"What're you doing?" McHorn mumbled, looking at Nick. The fox had crawled onto his chest and was probing each penetrating injury. Judy clambered up beside him.

"Looking for sucking wounds." Nick said. "'Akela wuz here.' Charming. Did any of you cops bring a chest seal? Just in case?"

McHorn pushed himself up slightly, despite Higgins efforts to forcibly keep him down. "Chest seal?"

"So, no. Unless that medical room upstairs has some, we're going to need tape."

Higgins, pressing down on a stab wound to his coworker's arm, stared at the fox. "How the hell do you-"

It was Benjamin who spoke up. "For the last time, he did not fake that license!"

"We didn't say he had." McHorn said. "This time."

Nick looked between the two mammals. "How many times have you people doubted my credentials, exactly?"

McHorn shrugged. "There was reasonable doubt."

Judy scowled. "I know you're badly hurt, but that's crud and you know it!"

"Hey, for one thing he never went to college."

"KNOCK IT OFF!" Bogo's voice echoed as he shouted upward. "MAC, FIND SOME OTHER WAY TO STAY CONSCIOUS OR I'LL GIVE YOU THE BACK OF MY HOOF WHEN I GET UP THERE!"

Sufficiently chastised, McHorn lay back down on the concrete, then looked at Higgins. "Invented any more knock-knock jokes lately?"

Judy's fear for her coworker was almost matched by her curiosity as she watched Nick examine the wounds with the focus and intensity of a Chief Resident at Savanna Central Hospital. She'd questioned predators who had visited the clinic in the weeks before the big raid, and they'd generally displayed satisfaction at the service Nick had provided, but she had almost convinced herself that they'd been fabricated.

She was a stupid girl for even thinking that.

She allowed herself some relief when she saw that none of the injuries showed symptoms of sucking, then looked up to see that Gabe had taken a few steps back and was taking out a radio.

"Savage, it's Mossberg. Where are you?"

Judy heard Jack relatively clearly thanks to her rabbit's sense of hearing, and his response was deadpan. _"Having a Mexitapirn Standoff with Zootopia's answer to Billy G. G. Loomis."_

Gabe slightly turned his face to the radio. "… What?!"

Judy's ears pricked and she asked, "Everything alright?"

"Yeah, yeah!" Gabe quickly waved her away. Judy tuned out the bickering ensuing between Higgins and McHorn over how best to tend to the rhino so she could listen better; she trusted Jack and Gabe enough to have not arrested them by now, but she didn't like things being kept from her. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Jack answered quickly. _"I've cornered Maria Manchas in one of the labs._"

"Why do I feel a 'but' coming on?"

_"__But we're in the middle of a standoff, as you failed to understand just now. If she comes out of hiding, I'll shoot her. When Sedor shows up, she'll use the distraction to kill me. I'm liking the odds here."_

"You can end the standoff. Sedor's been taken care of."

_"__Really?" _Jack paused. _"Alright, I'll call you back in a few. No distractions, please."_

Judy looked at her watch. Roughly sixteen hours remained until Cheryl's deadline.

"So, four crazies down and we're still no closer to unlocking the Vorpal Blade." Nick slid down the side of McHorn's body, wiped the blood off on his pants and held out a paw to help her down.

The typically independent rabbit quietly accepted the gesture, but still let her legs do most of the work. "So, now what do we do?"

Judy thought of that defenseless bear cub who had pleaded for help over the intercom. "We have to get to Slothfeld."

"Yeah, I don't want anything to happen to Morris either, poor kid." Nick said. Judy's eyes widened slightly. Either that fox was psychic or they were more on the same page than she'd thought. "But you've seen that partition, right? Even fifty buffalo-butts won't get through that."

"ARE YOU _BEGGING_ FOR A BODY CAST, FOX?" Bogo growled from down below.

Kneeling over the edge, Benjamin called down. "Don't take it personally, he has nicknames for everyone! Hold on, I'll look for something to get you out!"

He stood up, rubbed his chin for a few seconds and then walked over to the metal crates.

"Captain, we have to get McHorn to the medical room!" Higgins called, in the process of helping McHorn to his feet. "You'll be okay down there for a while, won't you?"

"Do what you need to, just make sure he doesn't die!" Bogo yelled back. "Hopps, you can't help carry a rhino so you stay here and find something to get me out of here!"

Judy gently tugged Nick's arm. "Go with them, Nick. They could use your help."

"Wait, your trusting me with your buddy's life."

"Yes."

Nick looked visibly conflicted. "You sure you'll be okay looking after Captain Buffalo Buttocks?"

"FOX, THIS IS YOUR SECOND WARNING!" Bogo thundered down below, and Judy was half-considering throwing Nick down there so her superior could follow through with his threats.

Nick smirked. "Doing just fine, good. Sorry, I don't have any credentials in cave rescue."

_Oh, that dumb fox just doesn't know when to… _"Just go with McHorn, you smart alec!" Judy snapped.

Gabe grabbed the fox by his jacket, practically tossing him toward the rhino and hippo. "You heard her. He's bleeding all over the concrete, so get cracking!"

Nick staggered across the floor, propelled by the momentum of Gabe pushed him, until he missed McHorn and instead collided with Benjamin's hip.

Benjamin pulled his arm out the open box he was looking through, straightened himself and looked down, looking a little nervous as he gazed at Nick.

Nick, upon acknowledging Benjamin for the first time since their eventful skirmish with Sedor, looked like he was holding back vomit.

Judy swallowed as she remembered the last time she'd seen them speak to each other. She shouldn't be here for this. She should search elsewhere, anywhere but here.

"Uh, guys?" Benjamin pointed to an open box behind him. "While you were standing around arguing about stuff I found some rippling equipment that Bogo could use. I think it's rippling equipment, but at least it's rope."

Judy relaxed, walked over and looked into the box. "It's _rappelling_ equipment, Clawhauser, and good job."

"You know how to use this stuff?"

"It's kind of mandatory in police training, with all the different terrains in the city." Judy said. "It's too big for me to set up myself, but I can walk you through it. There's got to be a good anchor around here somewhere."

"Me." McHorn said, drawing stunned looks from everyone. Higgins, holding McHorn's arm around him shoulders, froze mid-way to the door.

"You can't be serious." The hippo said.

"Dead serious." McHorn muttered, then snorted blood all over the floor. "Yeah, yeah, bad choice of words. I'm not going to no medical room until Mansa's safe."

"I'm sure we handle it without you, tough guy." Gabe said with a casual wave of his paw.

McHorn narrowed his eyes at the feline. "Unless you can haul a six-hundred-pound beefcake all by yourself, keep your nose out. Higgs, tie that thing 'round me and you do the rest. The cheetah can help if he needs to."

Benjamin carried the rope over and held it out, glancing at Nick every now and then. When Higgins didn't accept it right away, McHorn snatched the rope and started tying it around himself, muttering under his labored breath.

"Resilient son of a bitch." Nick commented.

His ears flattened when Benjamin turned to look at him properly.

"Nick." He said.

"B-Benji." Nick gulped. "Jeez, you've lost weight."

"Being locked up in a safe house for a few weeks will do that to you."

"Yeah… I haven't seen you in… how long was it?"

"Back at the Arctic House." Benjamin said quietly.

Judy put her paws over her mouth as she stared at them, sending a prayer that this wouldn't end badly.

"Ah yeah, the Arctic House." Nick climbed onto another crate so he was almost eye level with the cheetah and wrung his paws. "Hell of a night, huh? I guess I should say it's _ice_ to see you again… yeah, Koslov didn't laugh either."  
Judy waited anxiously for Benjamin to respond. Her heart jumped slightly when he got down on both knees. "How long were you in cahoots with him, Nick?"

Nick took a deep breath through his nostrils. "Since I started up my Wild Times plan. I had nothing to do with him before then, I swear to God. I know what you're gonna say. 'I should have quit before I joined up with mobsters.' And you're right, I should have. I was desperate, I guess."

"Desperate?"

"For what you had." Nick looked ashamed of himself for admitting it. "Your life got better. One day we were working in the same crappy fast food joint, together in pain and misery, and then the next day you were gone. You moved on to a better job in a better place, with a bigger paycheck, and I was still stuck in Bug-Burga hating the world for not giving me and my dad a chance."

His dad. John Wilde. The fox who tried to start an honest business, only to die in prison for the sole crime of being a member of Liberum. Judy bit the edge of her lip, disgusted with herself for ever buying Swinton's horsecrap.

"So you decided to become a bigger sellout than me?"

"No." Nick said, his eyes hardening for a moment. "I was a little jealous- okay, a lot jealous, but I never once thought of you as a sellout. You wanted more than the slum, and you got it. But I wanted even more. But the rejections from the banks kept piling up, higher and higher. I could have quit once I ran out of banks. Cut my losses and stayed in Bug Burga, but…"

"You didn't want to fail like your dad did." Benjamin said it for him.

"Yeah. And there was a healthy amount of greed involved. I'm almost glad my dad's dead. That way I can't see the look on his face."

There was a grunt of pain. Benjamin looked over Nick's head at McHorn. The rope was already over the edge of the platform, completely taught as Higgins pulled at it. "Damn it. Must have done something to my shoulder." He muttered and waved the cheetah over.

"Maybe we should save this for later, Nick. They need help." Benjamin stood up.

Nick held a paw out, stopping him. "I know, I know. Look, I know I screwed up. I screwed up, and screwed you over big time. And you could have told the fuzz where to find me, but obviously you didn't. Just, you know… thanks. For not selling me out."

Benjamin gave him a long, silent look. "I almost did this time."

Somewhere in the darkness of the tunnel beside them, made clear by the silence that followed those words, there was the gentle rumbling of a small waterfall. Judy was sure she was the only mammal in the cavern who could hear it.

Nick sighed and looked away. "'Kay."

Benjamin rubbed his arms to warm them up as he looked at the rope. Higgins didn't appear to be making any progress with it. "Jeez, this is gonna be harder than I thought." With that he walked off to join Higgins.

Nick turned away and punched the metal box.

"You stupid dumb fuck." He snarled under his breath. "One of the handful guys in this whole fucking city who doesn't give two shits that you're a fox, and what do you fucking do…"

Judy walked over and put a paw on the arm that pressed its fist into the cold metal. "Talk to him after this is all over, Nick. He's ready to forgive you. I can see it."

Nick screwed his eyes shut and pressed his head against the box. "Carrots, after this is all over I'm going to jail. There may not be a later."

"Then I'll make sure you get a later." Judy smiled. "Trust me."

"Well, you've proven relatively trustworthy so far."

"'Relatively?' Says the guy who had a secret passage in his office!"

"Okay, okay, you have been relatively, absolutely, one-hundred percent trustworthy." To Judy's relief Nick looked 'relatively' cheered up when he took his head off the crate. "If I'm going to finish taking responsibility for my actions later, then let's focus on the now. What do we do about Morris?"

"Save him."

"How?"

"Wish I could plan that far ahead. If only we could make Slothfeld come to us…"

Nick stiffened, then grabbed Judy's head and planted a quick kiss between her ears, which swiftly turned red with heat.

"Nick, are you out of your-"

"Carrots, I'm sorry I ever called you a dumb bunny!" Nick turned on his heel and stepped up to Gabe, who had his back to the fox as he whispered into the radio. Still feeling a little stunned by Nick's sudden act of affection, Judy listened carefully until she identified the mammal on the other end as Miss Skyefall.

"I don't know." Gabe said. "Without a keycard, there's no way to get into XIBALBA."

_"__We've looked everywhere, right?"_

"If there was a keycard still out here, these crazies would have ripped that sloth to pieces by now."

_"__Don't call them crazies!"_

"Okay, sore subject now." Nick said.

Gabe flinched away from him the instant he heard the fox's voice in his ear. "Jesus Christ, Wilde!"

"Pardon my eavesdropping, but I couldn't help but overhear that you're shit out of luck." Nick said.

"Not now, Wilde!" Gabe snapped.

"Yes now, Mossberg. I might have an idea how we can get to Morris and Slothfeld." Nick paused. "And Starlight."

Gabe tensed. "If it's not a good idea, I'm throwing you through that door."

"That partition- is that what you call it- can't be opened without a keycard from the outside, right?"

"Well, we sure can't open it from the inside."

"Maybe not… but she can."

"She?" Gabe asked. Nick nodded. For a second Judy thought they were talking about her, then a lightbulb seemed to pop in Gabe's head and returned to the radio. "Alyssa, who has the disk?"

_"__Me."_ Alyssa said.

"Get that disk and meet us outside the partition."

_"__You found a way into XIBALBA?"_ Alyssa said with sudden eagerness.

"Not quite. We're going to make XIBALBA open for us."

_"__Sit tight, I'll be right there."_

Gabe looked to the smaller mammals. "Better you stay put. Shit's going to hit the fan when Starlight comes out."  
"On a scale on one to ten, how dangerous is she when not on our side?" Nick asked.  
"Depends on how badly you piss her off."

"… Okay-dokay."

Gabe looked over Nick's shoulder. "You should stay away too, rookie. She's way above your paygrade."

Judy stood up, scowling. "You can't just assume what I'm capable of! I'm coming with you!"

"You stay where you are!" Gabe snapped.

"But-"

Nick swiftly moved between them. "Ok, ok, claws down, ladies! I think what Mr. Temper-Temper is trying to say is that this is between him and his long-lost wife. Wouldn't want to increase the chances of someone shooting her. Besides, someone needs to stay here and look after Benji and Buffalo-"

"THESE HORNS ARE ITCHING FOR _PELTS_, WILDE…" Bogo shouted.

Nick stuck his paws in his pockets and shrugged. "Maybe save the threats for when you're back on…" He turned around and froze mid-smirk. "… And you already are."

The smirk evaporated completely when Benjamin released the rope and ran straight into Bogo's arms.

"Guh! Watch it, Ben, I just took a tumble in a giant tin can."

"You're still okay, though, right?" Benjamin asked, his face pressed into Bogo's torso.

Bogo chortled and returned the embrace.

Nick sighed and turned his eyes away from them.

Benjamin released Bogo at his request and the buffalo stalked in Nick's direction with a face like thunder. Judy stepped in front of the fox, ready to talk her captain out of tanning his hide, only for him to pass them by and kneel down beside McHorn.

"Damn it, Mac." He growled as he carefully undid the knot and pulled the rope off the wounded rhino.

"Not as bad as you, believe me." McHorn said with a dry chuckle.

"Right on that one. Get up, we're taking you to the medical room. Wilde, you said you knew the way?"

"Yeeeeaaaah…" Nick said nervously.

"Good. Keep him alive and I'll forget those buffalo-butt cracks."

There was a loud snort of laughter. "Cracks…"

Bogo glowered in Nick's direction, only for Judy to raise her paw. "Sorry, sir. That was me this time."

Bogo shook his head, then with Higgins managed to get McHorn to his feet. "One step at a time, Mac. Come on, everyone, we're leaving. Wilde, get in front."

"'Kay, I guess you're the boss." Nick ran forward to lead the way. Benjamin took the rear.

Judy retrieved the gun she'd lost and went to join the group, but then she noticed that Gabe had yet to move. His hood was up, leaving his eyes in shadow, and he had pulled out both his curved blades. He stepped up to a metal crate and laid his blades down. He then pulled out a shorter straight knife and slipped it under his sleeve. Finally, he laid his firearms on the crate.

Judy holstered her own weapon and walked up to him. "What are you doing?"

"I'm not taking any chances of her getting hurt." Gabe said. Judy saw past the shadow under his hood and saw fear in his blue eyes.

"You sure you don't need any help with… you know?"

"I'm already waiting for backup. Look, I know it's in your nature but don't interfere. She's under Slothfeld's control right now and won't hesitate to kill you and your boyfriend."

"Got it. Anything else?"

"Yeah. My gear had better still be there when I get back."

Judy glanced at the impressive weaponry that lined the metal lid of the crate. _Cheese and crackers._ When she joined the force, she'd expected to at worst be dealing with Charles Maneson, not Deathstroke.

When she looked back at Gabe, she found herself staring at thin air.

_Case. In. Point._

"Is every predator I meet gonna pull a Batmammal?" She grumbled.


	43. Gabriel IV

Gabe heard Alyssa's voice coming from the radio almost as soon as he gave Judy and the other law enforcers the slip, lying on a support beam near the roof of the cavern.

Alyssa sounded cold and distant. _"Where're the Rock, the Boulder, and Stone Cold going?"_

"Hold on…" Gabe looked over the edge of the support beam and saw that Judy had gone. Good. With them and Nick out the way, there was less chance of Starlight getting hurt. "On their way to the medical room to take care of…. wait, which one's the rhino?

_"Doesn't matter. Stone Cold. How's he doing? The camera doesn't paint a totally clear picture."_

"Nick said none of the wounds appear to have penetrated the chest cavity, but they might have poked an organ or two. He'll do what he can to stabilize the big guy until backup gets here."

_"I've called Llater about this. He'll pass it on to ZBI HQ."_ Alyssa said over the radio.

"Good. Meet me in the hallway once everyone's in the med-room."

Gabe dropped down from the beam, thinking of how he'd almost blown up on Nick. Jesus Christ on a Stick, that fox was annoying. He knew he shouldn't lose his temper with these mammals, but it was getting harder to keep his emotions in check. Starlight was on the other side of that partition. She was close now, so, so, close. Gabe just had to keep it together a little while longer.

The radio crackled. "Alyssa, I'll be there in a minute."

_"Actually, it's Savage."_

"Fine. Savage, are you almost done with Lady Catherine De Stabborough?"

_"I heard that!" _Yelled a voice that tugged at Gabe's memory. _"But I rather like it. If I ever go on the run, remind me to put that name on my luggage!" _

There were other sounds in the background. "Savage, are you fighting Manchas at this very moment?"

_"Fighting a full-grown jaguar high on toxic flowers isn't as hard as I thought it was."_

_"I'll show you high, bunny-bumpkin!"_

_"Gotta go, Mossberg! It may not be as hard, it's still not easy! Oh, and make sure Alyssa doesn't get near Slothfeld, got that?"_

"What? Why-"

_"Come here, you stripey shitho-"_

The radio fell silent, and so did Gabe. Did Jack suddenly have a delusion of grandeur and decide to keep the glory of capturing Slothfeld to himself? No, that didn't sound like him. But then what was going on here?

"Alyssa." Gabe muttered, and contacted her straight away.

"Skyefall, do you hear me?"

_"Almost there, Gabe."_ Alyssa's tone was still the same as before, and that bother him.

"What's going on? You've been doom and gloom for a while now."

_"Roarson's dead."_

Gabe blinked. "Roarson?"

_"He attacked me in the control room a little while ago. I didn't have a choice."_

"Ah. Well, Jack should be finished dealing with the other one soon. You still keeping an eye on-"

Alyssa cut him off. _"Didn't you hear me? Roarson is dead. I had to kill him."_

Gabe heard her voice waver, and sighed. "It was either you or him, you can't blame yourself."

_"It never should have been me or him! It should have been me or Slothfeld!"_

"… Slothfeld?"

Alyssa took so long to respond that Gabe thought the radio had gone dead. _"What're we gonna do about the kid?"_

_She's changing the subject_, Gabe thought._ Something is definitely wrong._ "We'll worry about that once we get the keycard. Hurry up and get down here."

Once he was back in the main hallway, waiting outside the entrance to XIBALBA, his mind filled with thoughts of Starlight. She was wearing one of Slothfeld's new collars, the thing which everything, the savage attacks and Project Twilight, revolved around. He hadn't seen it, but it was there, under the turtleneck of her sweater. He knew it in his gut. Gabe didn't know how long she had that collar around her neck, but he hoped to God she was still fighting it. Sloth heads would roll if Lance had to grow up without a mother.

His anxiety spiked when Alyssa arrived, pistol in paw. Her eyes were moist, but there was a cold fury behind the tears. "So, what the hell is Nick up to?"

Gabe felt his chest heaving silently under his hoodie. He was so close to his wife and he felt like the air was thinning. "Starlight would have needed a keycard to leave XIBALBA and come back with Morris. She'll need it again to retrieve her master's disk."

"You really think he'll send her out for this thing?" Alyssa pulled out the disk. Gabe glanced at the camera looking down at them. No doubt Slothfeld was watching them right now, watching in egotistical outrage as they held his life's work in their paws.

"Nick thinks he will. And he knows everybody."

"So he says."

"Look, let's just trust him on this one, alright?"

Starlight didn't respond, and instead turned to glare at the door. Gabe grimaced, but whatever was going on with Alyssa would have to wait.

He looked at the pistol the vixen was holding. "You hurt her, I hurt you more." Alyssa nodded, unperturbed. "She's wearing a collar, I know she is. We get it off her, and we're done."

A mechanical feminine voice sounded over their heads.

"_XIBALBA Partition Opening. Please stand back for your own safety."_

Alyssa pocketed the disk and aimed her pistol as the partition began to rise. Gabe saw her switch her safety on.

"Here we go." She said.

The partition was halfway open when a grenade rolled out from underneath it.

Gabe and Alyssa both leapt for cover, barely getting their paws over their ears before the world turned bright white and the blast of noise struck them.

"That escalated quickly." He heard Alyssa say, before she rolled to avoid the flurry of bullets that sent sparks flying off the floor. Gabe scrambled to his feet and searched for his wife.

_There!_

She was kneeling behind the rising partition, that plain purple mask hiding her face, but Gabe knew that thick white tail erect with aggression, and those wild blue eyes that suddenly fixed on him as she switched her aim.

"Star, no!" Gabe ducked through the doorway to the labs, the only cover to be had. The bullets were flying everywhere, the Twilight-infused vixen firing them not stopping until she'd emptied the entire clip. When the gunfire stopped, it occurred to him that the lab close by, where Jack was still dealing with Maria Manchas, was far too quiet.

"Savage?" He asked, his back against the wall and his eyes on the hallway outside. He couldn't see Starlight or Alyssa.

"I'm okay." Jack said, and he sounded like it. "I've got her pinned down, and she's out of knives. How's it going on your end?"

"Well… I finally found my wife?"

"Good for you." Gabe could tell Jack meant it.

"Gabriel Mossberg, get your arse back in here!" Alyssa shouted from back in the hallway. Gabe could hear her trading blows with Starlight.

"I'll make sure Lady Catherine De Stabborough doesn't interfere." Jack said. "And remember what I told you about Slothfeld, alright?"

"_Doveryai no proveryai._" Gabe said with a sigh. "And that goes to both of you."

With that he raced back into the hallway to find Alyssa scrambling to her feet. A sub-machine gun lay nearby.

"She got the bloody disk!" She snarled, wiping blood from her mouth. "I got the gun away from her, though!"

"Where is she?!"

There was a mechanical grinding sound as the partition began to descend. They both ran for it, the gap narrowing to a foot high before they slid across the floor and cleared the partition just in time.

"Well, that's one problem solved." Alyssa muttered.

"Come on, she can't be far!" Gabe hoisted her up with him and they ran for the single door at the end of the hallway. It slid open as they approached, letting them into another hallway with square ceiling lights colored blue.

"Bit on the nose, don't you think?" Alyssa asked. Gabe ignored her, eyes sweeping the hallway for signs of Starlight. Before them was a wide glass window looking out over a maze of metal walls. Gabe clenched his fists as the memories came back to him. All those tests, forcing him to do all kinds of weird shit before he regained his senses enough to fake a brain-destroying seizure, escaping the facility and leaving behind his wife and son…

"Over there!" Alyssa grabbed his shoulder and pointed across XIBALBA's testing area to another window to the left of the big room, where they could see Starlight sprinting across another hallway. They took off in pursuit.

The radio crackled as they ran. _"Listen, if she is wearing a collar, you have to tell her it's making her do this."_

"What was that, Savage?"

_"It's how you and the other subjects broke out. If you know the collar is controlling you, that makes it easier to resist. Tell her, Mossberg!"_

"Got it, got it!"

They ran across the hallway where they'd seen the vixen and burst through a door onto the top floor of a green-colored cube-shaped room with walkways and a stairwell leading down three floors.

"Looks like we found the central hub." Alyssa said, just as they saw Starlight running across the next floor down toward another door.

Gabe went for the stairs, but Alyssa, it seemed, had other ideas.

He was halfway down when he heard the vixen shout, "C'MERE, YOU!" and saw her descend on Starlight with the force of a meteor hammer. She struck Starlight fist-first, sending the mask flying and the pair of them sprawling along the floor. Gabe pounced, pinning Starlight; he pulled down the turtleneck of her sweater and there it was, the collar forcing her to attack her own husband. It was black and deceptively plain, like a metal the metal collar of a slave.

His relief at the verification was brief, but powerful.

She grabbed his paw when he reached for the collar, and her foot kicked him back by a few feet.

"Stuh- Starlight!" He gasped, winded, as Alyssa got up and went into a combat stance. "Stop! I don't want to hurt you!"

"Give it up, Foxtrot! Without a gun there's no way you can take us both!" Alyssa barked.

Back on her feet, Starlight stared at them hatefully as she held up Gabe's shotgun.

Gabe felt behind his back, cursed and ducked as she pulled the trigger.

The blast was almost deafening, and he felt at least one pellet strike his arm. Automatically grabbed the wounded area, he stared at Starlight.

She stared back, eyes going blank with shock, as the horror of what she'd done briefly broke through the haze of blind obedience. Then they hardened and her expression completely changed, turning fierce with loathing once more.

Adrenaline smothered the worst of the pain as Gabe and Alyssa simultaneously charged at Starlight. Alyssa hit first, throwing away the shotgun and spinning herself around the other vixen so she could execute a headlock. Gabe tried to grab Starlight's shoulder to hold her still, only to feel her leg sweep his own legs out from under him. As he spun he put his paws out, putting them between the floor and his skull, and pushed himself back onto his feet. On any other day he could have gone solo and fought Starlight to a standstill. Today he was tired and bleeding, and so was Alyssa. He should have known this wouldn't be easy.

"Starlight, the collar is making you do this!" He yelled at her as she fought against Alyssa's headlock. Starlight didn't show any sign of hearing him as she kicked Alyssa between the legs and threw her over her shoulder with a wild scream. Alyssa rolled under the rail and disappeared over the edge.

Gabe crossed his arms in front of his face, letting them take the worst of the blow that shoved him against the rail. Starlight pressed harder against the thin metal bar and punched him over and over until he caught her fist and shoved her back.

"Enough of this _shit_!" He pressed the advantage, kicking her against the wall. If he had to pummel her into submission, so be it. He grabbed her wrists and pinned them to the wall before kicking her again in the stomach just hard enough to stun her. Even though his jaw felt like it was going to fall off he yelled, "Starlight, fight it! Fight the fucking collar!"

Starlight blinked, and then she thrust her noggin into his. Gabe fell back, and Starlight ran at him again. Battle was joined.

_It's just like sparring on the rooftop, it's just like sparring on the rooftop…_ He told himself before letting instinct take over. Like her husband Starlight had trained extensively, never telegraphing her moves, and it showed even after months of captivity. Every blow was giving him a millisecond to counter, and vice versa; he socked her in the jaw and dodged her knee, then she elbowed his side and swatted his face with her tail. They were evenly matched, always had been. As a male half-cheetah he was stronger and slightly faster, but she knew his combat style like the back of her paw and her stamina was better than his. It also didn't help that she was currently trying to kill him, fighting with the terrible strength of a madmammal. _Get your butt back up here, Alyssa!_

In between the sounds of their blows he heard the _clink_ of the mag-rider the walkway above them. The instant she was back on their level she pulled herself higher up the cable and wrapped her legs around Starlight. "Gabe! Get the collar!"

Gabe pulled out his small knife and advanced, but Starlight growled and kicked his paw away. Gabe managed to keep his grip on the knife. Starlight slipped free of Alyssa's legs and dived for the shotgun. Gabe grabbed her legs and pulled her back- too late to stop her from grabbing the weapon, rolling over and aiming it straight at his face.

Gabe didn't give her the chance to hit him this time. He grabbed the barrel and diverted it away from him, barely wincing as it went off, the pellets flying harmlessly past his head and denting the walkway and wall above them. "That was the last round, honey." Starlight rolled away from him, aimed and pulled the trigger. The dry _click_ of the empty chamber echoed in the central hub. "Told you."

Starlight bared her teeth and tossed the gun over the rail.

"Starlight, snap out of it!" He yelled as she ran at him again; Alyssa intercepted her, looping the mag-rider's cable around her neck and firing the magnet at the bottom of the walkway above their heads. In a second Starlight was dangling in the air. Before Gabe could do anything other than roar, "What are you fucking doing?!" Alyssa grabbed Starlight's legs, supporting and immobilizing her at the same time.

"Save the bollocking for later, get the device!"

Gabe rushed over, more than ready to cut off that god damn collar. But of course, Starlight wasn't done yet. She simultaneously wrenched one leg free and kneed Alyssa in the chin, sending her tumbling down the stairs. Then she grabbed the cable with both paws and loosened the loop to free her head, dropping back to the floor and swinging her leg at Gabe's head. He blocked it in the nick of time with the paw holding the knife. Starlight swiftly grabbed that same paw, wrenched the knife out of it, and held his arm tight as she moved behind him. Gabe felt the cold sharp metal of the knife against his throat.

He grabbed her paw and fought to keep her from slicing the knife through his windpipe.

"Starlight, stop!" He begged. "You've gotta fight it, I know you can!"

But his words didn't seem to be reaching him. She fought harder, growling into his ear, the blade pressing deeper into his skin. Gabe couldn't let it end like this. He had to win this fight, for Starlight, for Cheryl, for Lance…

For Lance.

"Starlight, think of the baby! Your son, Lance! Don't you remember him?! If you won't fight it for me, fight it for him! Remember our son! Lance Foxtrot-Mossberg!"

"L-Lance?"

The grip holding his arm behind his back slackened. He pulled free and spun, pinning her against the rail. His heart pounded with adrenaline and joy as he saw the new look in Starlight's eyes; wild, but bright with hope and astonishment. "Yeah. Lance. That's what I called him."

Starlight didn't resist him, her feral eyes staring into his own. "You named him after the knight?"

"… Every damn time." He muttered as he slid the knife under the collar's strap.

There was a beep, and Starlight winced as the collar came away. A few seconds later the light in her eyes dulled and she collapsed in his arms.

* * *

Gabe laid Starlight down on the floor at the bottom level, waiting anxiously for the other vixen sitting on the stair to finish examining the collar. Alyssa huffed and tossed the collar aside. "Just as I thought. The collar's designed to tranquilize her if she ever takes the collar off. I guess they figured it was safer than the original explosive, and less expensive."

"Thank god." Gabe gently stroked the fur on Starlight's head. She looked disheveled, and she smelled like she hadn't washed in months, but he didn't care if she was covered head to tail in shit.

"It's probably safer this way." Alyssa said. "You saw how she acted. She's in Twilight, just like the others. On the bright side, the antidote should be somewhere in this South Animerican hellhole."

"You're in a very foul mood." Gabe noted.

"Just wishing it wasn't already too late for Roarson."

Gabe found that he felt the same. "That wasn't your fault, Alyssa."  
"No, it's Slothfeld's." Alyssa walked over and rummaged through Starlight's clothing until she procured the data disk and a monochromatic keycard. "You go back up top and get Jack. I'll go on and get Slothfeld."

Gabe scowled at her. "He's holding a little boy hostage, Alyssa. Best we wait until Savage is down with us."

Alyssa's response was ominously soft. "I can handle it."

_Doveryai no proveryai_, Gabe thought. "No. We'll get Savage first."

"But-"

"No friggin' buts!"

For a moment he thought Alyssa might punch him. That was how angry she looked. Fortunately, she backed down. "Fine. You stay with Starlight and I'll go get him."

Gabe kept his eye on her until she left out the door at the top floor, the door they'd passed through earlier. He understood how she was feeling, though. First chance he got, he was nailing that scientific shithead to the wall, mission be damned. He had far less to lose than she did.

She returned, not long later, with Jack in tow. He had a cut leaking blood down the side of his head, and another shallow cut in his side.

"Finally took care of Lady De Stabbarough, with her help." He gestured appreciatively at Alyssa. "She's currently hog-tied in a specimen cage in Lab 3."

"Can we skip the debriefing and find that son of a bitch?" Alyssa asked.

Jack raised an eyebrow, but seemed to shrug off any offended feelings. "I'll take point. Alyssa, I'm trusting you not to do anything rash once we find him."

"… Fine."

Now Jack was glaring at her. "Alyssa, I'm _telling_ you not to do anything rash when we find Slothfeld. It's not worth the consequences."

Alyssa sighed. "You're right. It's not worth it. Let's go find him."

Gabe was not convinced, and apparently neither was Jack. The rabbit kept an eye on her as they searched XIBALBA one room at a time, eventually finding the laboratory where the Twilight-inducing serum had been developed, along with a dark metal storage room door that needed a passcode to open.

"Savage, I forget to ask earlier." Gabe spoke up as they continued searching the lab. "How did you know about the collar's weakness?"

Jack paused. "I found a notebook in the lab upstairs, written by one of the scientists. Apparently, he was the one who realized that Cheryl and Sedor were becoming trouble."

"And Slothfeld didn't listen to him, huh?"

"Until it was too late."

"Not as smart as he thought he was, huh?"

"But he sure as hell was sadistic." Jack suddenly stopped walking. "Is it me or does that layout look awfully familiar?"

He was pointing at a spot on the wall that was covered in posters of chemical formulas, arranged perfectly in the shape of a rectangle.

Alyssa smirked. "Blood hell, that _is_ familiar."

Jack strode up to the posters and ran his finger over a deep groove that ran alongside the posters. "Must be some kind of panic room. Look around, see if you can find a way to open this."

It was about a minute before Alyssa came across a paw-gel dispenser that appeared to be coming away from the wall. She pulled it off to expose a keycard reader. Without a word she used the keycard she'd taken off Starlight, and the door sank slightly into the wall and slid open.

"Remember, we want Slothfeld _and_ Morris alive." Jack said.

He entered the narrow hallway beyond the door first. Gabe went next. His trigger finger was feeling mighty itchy right now, so he kept it off the trigger.

_Not yet… not _yet_…_

Alyssa's footsteps were barely audible as she took the rear. Jack stopped before a door with an ordinary stainless-steel handle, a bit tricky for a bunny rabbit to reach. Not seeing any keycard readers or other security locks, the rabbit made a short hop to grab the door and pull. The moment they heard the _click_of the latch sliding out, Jack kicked it open as he dropped down.

Gabe charged into the room, not noticing any of the details except for the sloth running across the red and blue carpet.

"Hold it!" Jack snapped.

The mammal, running at a pace abnormal for sloths but perfectly normal for any other mammal, froze less than two feet from the sniffling polar bear cub sitting cuffed to a desk. He looked at them, and Gabe knew instantly who he was.

He bared his teeth and aimed his gun straight at that loathsome monochromatic face. "It's _over_! Step away from the kid you evil son of a bitch!"

"Easy, Mossberg." Jack muttered. "But you heard him. Step away from the cub and put your claws on your head."

Gabe couldn't tell what Slothfeld was feeling at this moment. His expression was infuriatingly blank. There was no fear to be seen, nothing to give Gabe the satisfaction of finally expiring this fucker's Karma Rooudini Warranty.

The sloth sighed in exasperation- _exasperation_\- and did as he was told.

"Alyssa, check on the kid." Jack said.

Alyssa only took her eyes off the sloth when she reached Morris. "Where's the key?" She asked.

Jack looked to Slothfeld. "Hand it over, doc."

"I'm afraid I don't have it." Slothfeld said with a shrug and an Boarlish accent.

Jesus, his tone pissed Gabe off even without their personal history.

"I assure you, I don't have it." Slothfeld said.

"Don't need it, anyway." Alyssa kneeled down and gave Morris gentle assurances as she started working on the cuffs with her lockpick.

"You know, you ought to be relieved." Jack said. "Unlike those predators you tortured, my government wants you alive."

"Alive? I'm touched. And what does your government want me alive fo-"

"Keep your claws on your head!" Jack snapped. "After what you've done here, taking you alive is all the mercy you deserve. I will knock you out and drag you back to the surface if I have to."

"I wouldn't mind that at all, actually." Slothfeld said dryly. "Heavens knows how long it has been since I 've seen our dear _Kinich Ahau_."

"What is that, Latin?"

"Mayan, actually. Zoogle it if you want, I can't be bothered with explaining such an obvious translation."

"Don't care, either way. So what's it going to be, doctor?"

"Oh, do calm yourself, Mr. Savage. I may prefer Chess to Poker, but I still know when to fold them. When is the extraction helicopter estimated to arrive?"

"Not so fast." Jack said. "First, we need you to unlock that disk of yours."

"I'm afraid that is private property, and subsequently not for mediocre eyes to see. However, I am perfectly happy to discuss any and all future projects with your superiors."

_Don't count on it, you smug little shit_, Gabe thought.

"I don't give spit about your privacy!" Jack said with an edge of antagonism. "You're going to unlock that disk and you're going to do it now. Alyssa, bring it over."

Slothfeld's smugness gave way. "You can't do this! That information is classified!"

"According to my superiors you're a wanted mammal, sloth. Take it up with them."

"_Bzdura!_ I can't believe this!" Slothfeld yelled in his native language, slashing the air in front of him. "It took a pack of savages running loose to get those asinine bureaucrats to finally take an interest in my work?! _Trzymaj się swojego fiuta!_"

Gabe took a step. "Cut the ego, Slothfeld."

Slothfeld turned his anger on the feline, eyes flashing as he recognized him. "You think you're so smart, tricking me with that bogus seizure and letting yourself be dropped down that chute like all the other rubbish! You must have felt tremendous, getting one over me like that, but was it worth abandoning your family?"

Gabe fired a shot at the floor by the sloth's feet, making him jump back. Morris cried out in fright.

"Mossberg…" Jack growled.

Gabe didn't need the warning, already feeling sickened with himself for acting so violently in front of the cub. He muttered to himself to get a grip and holstered his gun. His bloodlust had abated, but it would return.

"Knock it off." Jack said. "Where are the antidotes for the serum variants?"

The room fell silent, except for the sniffling of the shaken cub. Alyssa's eyes glinted. She aimed her gun.

"Look for the refrigerated cabinet in the storage room in the lab outside." Slothfeld said icily.

"We need a passcode to get in there. Don't even think of pretending you don't know. Tell us what it is, doctor."

Slothfeld glared them with venom, keeping his mouth shut. Jack glared back, ears flat against his head. Gabe kept glancing at Morris in order to keep himself from doing another stupid thing.

Alyssa wordlessly aimed her gun again with an audible _clink_.

"Twenty-sixteen!" Slothfeld snapped.

"Now that's more like it." Jack said. He gestured with his gun toward the nearby computer. Slothfeld instead sat down on the couch behind him and crossed his arms, glaring in defiance.

"Stubborn old squint." Jack growled. "Alyssa, Mossberg, go update our friends on what's happened and get the antidote to the predators we've captured."  
"What about you?" Gabe asked.

"I'm going to talk some sense into the good doctor. Now get going. We don't have as much time as we think we have."

Alyssa took Morris's paw and lifted him to his feet. "I don't feel comfortable with you giving all the orders."

"If you don't like it, do something else. Just make sure it's productive."

"Fine. Fine. In that case, I'll take the kid to the fuzz. They actually seem to give a shit about his wellbeing."  
"Language." Morris said as he rubbed his reddened eyes.

Jack chuckled and pointed. "You heard him. Language."

As they bickered, Gabe was thinking of language of a different sort. The same words that had stuck with him throughout his career, a rhyming phrase that had served him far better than the typical 'trust no-one.' It had helped him see past stereotypes, tell ally from enemy, and snipped several ignorant ideals in the bud before they could take root in his young, impressionable mind. It was a proverb that could make for a better world if more people learned to live by it.

_Doveryai no proveryai._

_Trust but verify._

Gabe followed Alyssa out the room, leaving behind the object of his revenge, with the intent to do just that.


	44. Elba V

Elba woke up with a start when the phone in his pocket suddenly started vibrating. He rubbed his eyes and tried to remember the dream he'd been having before his sleep was so rudely interrupted. He'd been back in Roarcadia, and not five minutes into the dream things had gotten weird. The night sky had turned neon blue with glowing dust particles the size of hailstones, and innocent mammals warped by fire and radiation into skinless abominations had wandered the streets, baying for the blood of the mammals responsible for their pain. Elba had been shooting a poor soul about to maul a little arctic fox when the phone rang.

Pottermass was snoring on the other couch, mouth open wide. Elba felt a thrill of intimidation at the sight of those long, sharp tusks. Llamadeus was still working on his laptop, eyes mere centimeters from the screen. What was so important on that computer that he would forsake REM sleep to complete it? Elba would ask him once he was done with this call. As for Mayor Swinton, she was nowhere to be seen, no doubt still in her office trying to fix her late father's mess. It was a fool's errand by this point; the moles in the ZBI couldn't delay the investigation forever.

He picked up the phone, ready to chew the thick grey buttocks off of Trunchbull if this wasn't important. Except the number on the screen was an unknown number. Frowning, he answered.

"Hello?"

_"__Evening, Commissioner."_

Elba sat straight up on the couch. It was Captain Bogo. He glanced at Llamadeus, who was still engrossed in his work. _Best not to mention any names. _"Thank the Lord. I was getting worried about you."

_"__The mission's more or less accomplished, sir. We've found the facility and we've apprehended Dr. Slothfeld."_

Elba closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. "Finally, some good news. Is the boy alright?"

_"__Yes, I found him."_

"Thank the Lord again. What other news do you have?"

_"__Plenty. It seems that not all the predators on the list are involved in the plot. About half of them are in hiding or completely unaccounted for."_

"Give me the full details on that later. What else?"

_"__Wilde's here."_

"You found him, too?"  
_"He found us, actually. Along with Hopps. Seems they started working together to clear his name."_ Bogo didn't sound pleased at that bit.

"After what happened with TUSK, I'm not surprised. I just hope she doesn't turn in her badge after this."

_"__Same here. I had my doubts, but she's got the makings of a good officer."_

Elba's other first tightened slightly. "Speaking of officers…"

_"__Cunninghorn's dead. Got torn up by some kind of killer."_

Elba tried not to smile. "Couldn't have happened to a nicer traitor. What do you mean 'some kind' of killer?"

Bogo paused. _"Commissioner, how much did you know of Theodore Swinton's activities back in Roarcadia?"_

Elba's blood ran cold. "What are you getting at?"

_"__I don't know the best way to approach this, sir."_

"Do it the way you do best. Be brutally honest."

_"__Cunninghorn wasn't killed by Sedor or one of the other missing predators."_

"Then what did? A Wendigo?" It was intended as a joke, but as soon as he said it, he felt another chill rushing through his veins. He was still shaken from the nightmare, he told himself. His gut instinct was sending him the wrong message. Knowing a benefactor's darkest secrets would make anyone paranoid.

_"__Close. It was something else. A monster."_

"No…"

_"__You know what I'm talking about, don't you?"_

"I hope I don't. I really do."

_"__Really? Because you were quite close to Theodore Swinton, and it appears that before Roarcadia fell, he was putting his resources into some weird shit. Like… Jurassic World's Indoniminus Rex shit."_

Elba pressed his hoof tips into his forehead. "That crazy, delusional old _fool_!"

Pottermass snorted, but didn't stir. Llamadeus looked up from his laptop. Elba ignored them both.

_"__So you knew." _Bogo said coldly. _"What else were you in on?"_

"Nothing do to with what's going on now, I swear to God." Elba said. "And that was the only distasteful thing I had been aware of. I wasn't involved, but I knew. Whatever else he'd done, I'm not privy to it."

_"__How do I know that's not bullshit?"_

"Because Theodore would never share his secrets with someone who criticized everything he'd done."

_"… __Good point. But then how did you know about his experiments?"_

"His daughter never agreed with the endeavor. Not for an instant. One night she had a huge fight with him over it. Afterward, she got so drunk she threw caution to the wind and told me everything."

_"__So, even our shamelessly hypocritical Madame Mayor has standards."_

Elba picked up cane. He needed something he could squeeze without breaking something. "How much did you learn? Don't hide it… I need to know… are the tests still ongoing?"

_"… __It doesn't look like it, sir. The creature that killed Cunninghorn is all that's left of the original Project Twilight. Slothfeld had been hiding it in the old mining town to keep Theo's daughter from finding out and killing it."_

A silver lining. Elba would hang on to that. "I needed to hear that, thank you. This isn't something to discuss on the phone, so I'll tell you the rest later."

_"__Damn right you will."_

Elba sighed. _First Integrity and Bravery, and now Trust. Now all I have left to lose is the badge itself._ "How many loose ends need tying up?"

_"__We're short a few more missing predators, and that creature is still out there. Right now Savage is trying to persuade Slothfeld to unlock his disc's secrets so we can convince the Red Queen not to destroy the city."_

Elba blinked. Savage? "The rabbit's there, too?"

_"__Another long story. Save it for our face-to-face discussion. The ZBI should be on their way here to take over, so we'll be having that discussion very soon."_

"Looking forward to it. Give my regards to the others."

_"__Hold up. Some predator in with a big X on his face told me to pass on a message."_

_Gabriel_, Elba thought. "And?"

"He found Starlight. That's all he said. Any idea what that means?"

Elba knew full well what that meant, and it made him want to dance cartwheels and throw his cane into the air. He'd found her. She was safe. Had he told her about little Lance yet? "Yes, I know what that means. Best save it for-"

_"__For the discussion, right. I'll call you back when the ZBI gets here. Or Slothfeld decrypts that disc. Whichever comes first."_

"Copy that. Tell the boy I'm glad he's alright."

After the call was ended, Elba sat on the couch in silence, processing everything that he'd learned and confessed. He could have played dumb about the creature's origin, but there was no telling what evidence Bogo and his men had found, and honestly, it had felt so good getting it off his chest. He'd kept the secret of Roarcadia's atrocities for so long. He'd hated himself for being too afraid to say anything, but at the same time he'd hoped that by saying nothing, Theodore's legacy would die along with him. But as it turned out, that legacy wasn't dead yet.

Pottermass grumbled and scratched his chest as he slowly awoke and sat up on the other couch. "What time is it?" He asked.

Elba pressed his cane into the floor as he stood up. "Time to come clean."

"What was that?"

"You heard me. If we're going to have any hope of stopping Radames, we need Swinton to reveal the truth."

Llamadeus turned in his chair. "Are you mad? Even her lawyers somehow get her off the hook, we'll be deemed guilty by association! This disaster will smear our reputations until long after we're all dead!"

Elba scoffed. "You'll cook up a good whopper. You always do."

Llamadeus stood up. "You self-righteous flatfoot! Every story I wrote was for the good of the city."

"Good for the lining in your pockets, you mean. Dear Lord, you're insufferable."

The llama stormed up and poked Elba in the chest. "I don't have to take this! The ZBI will find that crazy bitch any minute now. We don't need to stoop to giving in to demands from terrorists."

"They won't find her in time." Elba said. "They've been investigating for days and they still have no leads. You can thank your Queen of Hearts for slowing them down."

"And now you want her to finally admit that her entire family has been lying to us for centuries." Pottermass said. "No offense, Morgan, but we'd have a better chance of getting your local pastor to admit Christianity isn't the one true faith."

"Unless you have an idea where they can find Radames, this may be the only way to stop her." Elba rapped his cane on the floor. "We have to get out of here and talk to her."

"Let the Feds handle it." Llamadeus said.

Elba thought of the last time they'd all been in the office together, and they'd all discussed the best way to exploit a blazing riot that occurred in the middle of their own city. Then he grabbed Llamadeus and threw him into Pottermass's stomach. The hippo let out a sharp groan, but before he could retaliate Elba pressed the bottom on his cane into Llamadeus's chest, pinning them both to the couch.

"I'm not a fool. I know we're never going to agree on this. And that is why I am going to go up there and talk to her, and you two are going to stay put and not do anything to stop me. Are we clear?"

"You're out of you're-" Llamadeus winced as Elba pressed harder.

"I don't want to hear another word out of you. I am walking out of this glorified panic room, and then you can go right back on that computer and finish writing whatever blasted cover story Tilda has commissioned you this time. Pottermass, you can go right back to sleeping off the booze."

Pottermass shoved the llama aside and glared at Elba. "The hell with that, I'm coming with you!"

"To what? Literally stab me in the back?"

"To tell her that I'm going home! We've supported her family for years and she's treating us like prisoners! And the bar ran out of booze two hours ago, so now I'm _pissed_-pissed!"

Elba cocked his head. "Are you sure you're not just still intoxicated?"

Pottermass fought his way up from the couch and shoved Elba. "Stop fucking judging me and get up those stairs!"

* * *

Elba strode straight past Llater's desk without so much as a good evening.

"Oh shit." Llater shoved his secret headpiece into his desk drawer and ran after him and Pottermass. "Hold on, you can't just barge in… and they just barged in. God, I should have stuck to infiltrating drug cartels."

Swinton's head shot up, the comb dropping from her hoof, her untidy blonde hair bouncing on her scalp. "What the hell, Elba?!"

"Tilda, we need to talk." Elba said.

Swinton retrieved her comb and started fixing her hair. "You've caught me at a bad time, Elba. And what is Pottermass doing here?"  
"I'm here because I've-" Elba shot out his arm, cutting Pottermass off.

"Wait your turn." Elba said, then turned back to Swinton. "This has gone far enough, Tilda. We have less than half a day before the Red Queen's deadline, and the authorities have no leads on her whereabouts."

Swinton set down her comb, her locks sleek and sophisticated one more. Her expression, on the other hand, indicated that she hadn't slept since he'd last seen her. "And?"

"_And?_" Elba repeated, incredulous. "Your city is in danger and all you have to say is 'and'?"

"We still have time. I sent my Assistant Manager to check on something. He should be arriving there soon. I'm just waiting for him to call back."

Llater spoke through her intercom. _"Ma'am, Chief Trunchbull is here to see you."_

"Send him up." Swinton replied.

Elba watched as she grabbed her phone and checked it. "Hmph." She said. "Nothing from Ramses yet."

Elba scowled. "You know, you never did introduce him to me. Or anyone for that matter."

"Carlton's death left a heavy workload. He doesn't have time for public appearances right now."

"And what exactly is he checking on?"

Swinton leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. "Not your concern."

"A fugitive scientist hiding on the outskirts of Zootopia is absolutely my concern!" Elba's voice was rising. He couldn't believe how she could act so smug. "That goes to his insidious science project which has so obviously gone out of control."

"He's assured me time and again that he has everything handled. There's been a few problems at the facility, it's true, but-"

"And you believe him?" Elba said.

It occurred to him that her smugness may indeed be an act after Swinton suddenly slammed her hooves on the desk. "Do not mistake what I just said for blind naivete, Elba! If Ramses finds that Slothfeld has fucked up in any way, he'll burn that asylum to the ground with Slothfeld in it!"

"That won't stop Radames, Tilda. Unless we figure out where she is, and soon, we may have no choice but to give her what she wants."

Swinton seethed in her chair. "Not a chance in hell, Elba."

Elba clenched his jaw for a few moments. "You've got to listen to me. It's over. It was over the moment Radames and Valentino escaped from captivity. The best thing you can do now is to come clean. It's for the good of the city."

"It's for the good of the city that I don't let those savages win." Swinton said.

_BANG!_

Elba struck the surface of the desk with his cane. Swinton leapt back in her chair, which two seconds later was seized by the infuriated water buffalo. Gripping the back hard enough to wrinkle the faux leather, he spun it so he was looming over Swinton's stunned face.

"Enough is enough, Tilda!" He snapped. "You have a responsibility to this situation and it's damn time you lived up to it!"

Swinton quickly regained her composure and narrowed her eyes in defiance. "What do you think I've been doing?"

"Wrong! You've been shirking your responsibility all along! You all have, from the very beginning!" He shot a look at Pottermass.

"Woah, what's that supposed to mean?" Pottermass demanded.

"You assisted Theodore Swinton in committing an international crime without understanding the full ramifications." Elba pressed, locking eyes with Swinton. "You were accomplices in a conspiracy you were entrusted to supervise. You were supposed to regularly check the activities of a mammal who you knew damn well has the ethical standards of Josef Moongele. And by leaving him to his own devices, you allowed him to create the most dangerous threat Zootopia has ever faced. I'd say you've shirked your responsibility."

Swinton swallowed. "You're wrong."

"I'm right, and you know it." Elba said. "This city is a mess, Tilda. Your father's conspiracy is a mess. Go out there and tell the people the truth about the collars. That's all she wants."

Instead of silence, his plea was followed by the instrumental tune of Jerry Vole.

Swinton glanced at the phone on her desk. "Will you get off me so I can answer that? Please?"

Elba released the chair, which rocked back into its correct position, and checked his watch. Eleven and a half hours until the Red Queen's deadline. Plenty of time to convince Swinton. He hoped.

Swinton picked up the phone and frowned at the screen. She pressed the green button and held it to her ear. "Ramses, have you- who the hell is this?"

"Who is it?" Pottermass asked.

Swinton ignored him. Her face contorted. "_You._" She snarled.

"Tilda, who is it?" Elba asked. Swinton ignored him too. The buffalo snatched the phone and put it to his own ear. "Who is this?"

_"__Ah, Commissioner. Starlight told me all about you."_

Elba didn't recognize the cool, low, feminine voice. "I wish I could say the same about you, your crimson eminence."

"Give me back that phone!" Swinton hissed.

Elba put it on speaker instead. "You know, you remind me of a rather famous fairy tale character."

_"__I assume you don't mean the Red Queen."_ Radames said smoothly.

"Morgan Le Fay. Or Morgana, whichever you prefer. She had a grudge against a specific leader as well. They reconcile at the end, but I doubt the same will occur here. What do you want?"

_"__Less than twelve hours remain until I complete the destruction of the Queen of Hearts's treasured wonderland. Is she ready to confess her family's sins, yet?"_

"I hate to break It to you, but we have Slothfeld in our custody."

_"… __Is that so?"_

"It is so." Elba said. "I sent a team of my best officers to Founder's Mountain, and they're already captured several of your fellow terrorists. In a matter of hours, the ZBI will arrive to do the rest. That's a lot of pieces off your side of the board, Radames."

Elba was relieved to hear Cheryl Radames sound genuinely displeased when she replied. _"Yes, it seems that way. So, justice it is, then. It's a shame that of all punishments we had planned, the Knave of Hearts will have to suffer the most boring one."_

"We have the disk as well. The one you forced Officer Hopps to retrieve for you. Once we convince Slothfeld to decrypt it the truth of the TAME Collars will be revealed to the world, just like you wanted. This doesn't have to end in more bloodshed, Radames."

_"__First of all, I didn't force Officer Hopps do anything. As the White Queen, she is free to do as she pleases. I simply told her the reality of the situation."_

Swinton laughed. "Reality! That's a bit rich coming from a certifiable bitch such as yourself!"

_"__Ah, I am so glad you are still listening to this, Queen Tilda! For you see, it's not quite over yet. The Knave of Hearts will not give up the secret of the Vorpal Blade easily, and especially not for thousands of mammals he cares so little about. Who's to say you'll get him to crack in time? That is why I'm giving the Queen of Hearts a chance to reveal the truth for him."_

"Give. Me. The. Phone." Swinton held out her hoof, and Elba handed it back.

"Take it off speaker and I'll take it right back. I want to hear this." He warned.

For once, Swinton heeded his warning. She squared her shoulders and smiled smugly. "Listen, you little striped pelt, you've got a lot of nerve trying to force me to confess to something I didn't do. Slothfeld turned you into the monsters you always were, not me."

_"__I lived under the Knave's watchful eye for almost two years. I remember you visited him only once, and watched as he put us through those XIBALBA trials. Do you deny it?"_

"If I recall, the Queen of Hearts is supposed to be the judge, not the defendant." Swinton said. "Why don't you come out of whatever black pit you're hiding in and taunt me to my face, you chicken-shit?"

Cheryl chuckled through the phone. _"That moment will come, but not yet. Why don't you wake up and smell the roses, Queen Swinton? This dream you and your ancestors created, a dream where prey are the shining angels waging an endless war on the blood-thirsty ungodly, is coming to an end. Why don't you just admit the truth that you deny, even to yourself, and be done with it? What do you say to that?"_

"I say you're crazy." Swinton said with a scoff.

_"__And whose fault is that?"_

Swinton hesitated, glaring daggers at her phone. Elba imagined his earlier words going through her head.

"This is not my fault." She said, her voice thick with rage. "Slothfeld was supposed to finish what Cogsworth started and make the new collars perfect. I didn't ask him for _monsters_." She spat, actual spittle hitting the screen.

_"__And yet here I am, holding your entire kingdom hostage. It's about time you stopped pretending you're enjoying watching your city fall apart for the sake of hiding your father's incompetence." _

Swinton bared her teeth in a crude smile. "I sure as hell enjoyed watching you and the grizzly fuck each other bloody. Being a rapist _and_ a rapee must be really living!"

The phone fell silent.

Elba felt the blood drain from his face.

Swinton blinked, her sadistic grin disappearing as the phone remained as quiet as a child's tombstone.

Outside the office, Llater whispered, "Hoh boy."

An alarm sounded on Swinton's computer; some sort of security system had been activated. Then, with a loud whirring sound like a hornet's death rattle, the shutters closed over the wide window behind Swinton's desk. The computer's painfully bright screen was the only light left in the office.

_"__Funny…"_ Radames's voice trembled. _"You think you're so… fucking funny... You really are you father's daughter, aren't you…"_

Llater ran into the room. "Mayor Swinton, what's going on?! My computer just announced an emergency lockdown around the entire building!"

Swinton cursed and rushed to her computer, but whatever command was needed to lift the lockdown failed to work.

_"__It's the end for you."_ Radames snarled. _"You're being taken off the board."_

"Fuck the board, how did you get into the system?!" Pottermass yelled.

Chief Trunchbull barreled into the room at that very moment, followed by a flustered Llater. "What is going on here, Mayor Swinton?! The lockdown has trapped everyone inside City Hall!"

He got his answer right away. _"After a stimulating discussion with your reigning queen, I have realized that I'm playing this game all wrong. I'm done playing fair. I will give you… five hours to find a way to escape. And then Alice's great blue tears will drown you all in a Xibalba of your own making." _

"You're making a big mistake! This is not over, Radames!" Swinton swore.

_"__It is, Tilly, it is. Or did you not know?" _Radames was calm, practically gleeful, as if she had further punishment in store for Swinton's vile quip.

"What? You're going to rape me, too?"

_"__I may have misspoke concerning the Vorpal Blade. The Knave may never willingly unlock the Blade, it can still be unlocked. It will take time, but someone, somewhere, will have the skills to do it."_ Cheryl definitely sounded gleeful by this point. _"Slothfeld is not the most trusting of mad scientists. He especially feared that at some point he would outlive his usefulness. So in the event that you decided you didn't need him anymore, he secretly recorded all of his interactions with you and your degenerate father. When that information is revealed, you and your collars are _finished_."_

In the harsh glow of the computer screen, Swinton turned white as porcelain.

_"__I thought you'd ought to know." _Cheryl said. _"God, it feels so good to finally rub your face in it."_

Elba stepped up. "Radames, if that's true, you don't have to do this! Please, just lift the lockdown and let everyone go! I'll even arrest Swinton myself! Don't hurt these mammals, I'm begging you! There has to be another way!"

_"__I never said there wasn't. Only the White Queen can stop me now. You'd better hope she deduces my location, and quick."_

Elba swallowed. "You're saying that if Officer Hopps finds you within six hours, you'll give up?"

_"__As soon as you find me, I lose. So yes, I'll give up. That was always in the cards. Unless, of course, you capture the Red King before then."_

"Then I can't wait to put you in checkmate."

Cheryl laughed. _"That's the spirit. See you soon, Swin-tart."_

The phone call beeped loudly as it ended. Swinton made no move to stop the sound as she stared into space, eyes wide and unblinking.

Trunchbull took a wary step toward her. "Mayor Swinton…"

He dodged to the side as Swinton's phone exploded on the wall beside him. The pig gnashed her teeth as she yanked her desk drawer all the way out and pulled out an expensive custom handgun. "Back to the lounge. All of you." She hissed. "And this time you'll stay there until that bitch is found. Where is Llamadeus?"

A nervous Pottermass told her he was still in the lounge, and the five of them started the long walk back to his location, Swinton leading the way. By now everyone within the building had discovered that they were now virtually trapped, and panic was threatening to set in. Fortunately the security guards were on hand to keep them relatively calm, and Trunchbull quietly told them to tell the civilians that it was a precaution put in place to protect them until the ZBI announced the terrorists' capture. Only time would tell how long that would placate them, or how long it would take for the outside authorities to force their way past the thick steel that barred all the exits.

It didn't help that many of the staff they passed had seen the gun their visibly unstable mayor was now holding.

They found Llamadeus at his laptop, directly facing them but not looking at them; the llama looked like an otaku whose favorite anime had just been cancelled. He was digging his fingers into the disheveled hair on his scalp as he stared at the screen.

"Llamadeus, get up!" Elba ordered. "I said get up! We have a situation."

Llamadeus pounded the table the laptop sat on. "Damnit. Damn it! How did we not-"

"Get off that computer, you slimeball!" Swinton shouted.

Llamadeus finally looked up. His eyes scanned the group, and then suddenly seemed to fix on something.

Sensing that someone was wrong, Elba stepped to the front of the group, in front of Swinton. "Llamadeus, what happened?"

Llamadeus held out a hoof. "Stop right there!"

"Mr. Llamadeus, what's going on?" Trunchbull asked from his place behind the water buffalo and pig.

Llamadeus slowly stood up, keeping the laptop between him and the group. Then he pulled out a gun and aimed, his wrath bringing out the red blood vessels in his eyes.

"Double crosser." He snarled.

_Blam! Blam! Blam!_

Three shots, before Elba could react. The first punched through the laptop's screen, striking Llamadeus in the gut and dropping him back on the seat. The second hit the laptop's hard drive dead on, obliterating the data it held. The third struck Llamadeus's heart, turning him into a rag doll in his chair.

Elba spun on the spot, so fast his bad leg nearly gave out from under him, but he saw nothing but the stunned mammals behind him also looking for the shooter, and the empty hallway outside the lounge. Trunchbull ran over to Llamadeus's still body and searched for a pulse. Elba didn't need to see his reaction to know the llama was dead.

"Jesus Christ." Llater muttered. "Jesus Christ. I've gotta get back to my-"

He was interrupted by Swinton screaming for security. Four burly guards stormed in seconds later, and she ferociously ordered them to confine Elba, Trunchbull, Pottermass and Llater to the lounge and confiscate their phones and weapons while the rest of the guards conducted a search of the building. Elba doubted they would find her. She'd been one step ahead of them the entire time. Why would this be any different?

And so, with five hours and forty minutes left on the clock, Elba sat on the same couch as before, staring at Llamadeus's cold body with even colder dread engulfing his gut.

_Double crosser, he said… So the Red King is among them… A traitor… Who?_


	45. Alyssa V

Alyssa was leaning against the wall, glaring at the door to Dr. Daniel Slothfeld's panic room with the intensity of a laser cutter, when she heard Judy Hopps enter the lab.

She stopped when she saw the vixen and her sour mood. "Skyefall. How's it going?"

"Not good." Alyssa said. "Jack and your captain are doing everything short of actually torturing the fucker, but he'd sooner let the world burn than give up his secrets."  
Judy's ears flattened. "Wow." She looked at the door. "I kind of expected a mad scientist when I first heard about him, but he looks so… normal."

"What, you expected Dr. Strangegrove?"

Judy looked slightly annoyed. "Sort of. How does he move so quickly? I thought sloths were supposed to be slow."

"Most are, but he's not. This isn't public knowledge, but he developed a drug that enables him to move at a speed normal for most other mammals. He still can't move very fast. We don't know if there're any side effects, because he keeps the formula to himself."

Judy looked down to the floor. "I'd be disgusted, but that's not the worst thing he's done. What're you doing out here, anyway?"

Skyefall snorted. "I got kicked out. Apparently, Jack thought my presence would put Slothfeld too much on edge to get through to him. God, isn't it wonderful to be a fox?"

"No, I don't think that's it." Judy said. "No offense, but you've been acting all doom and gloom for the last hour." She interlocked her fingers and stretched her arms high over her head; when she lowered her arms, her eyes shone with empathy. "Listen, I heard about Ryan Roarson. I'm sorry, for both of you. He may have been a drug dealer, but he didn't deserve this."

If looks could kill, Judy would have dropped dead from a dozen daggers to the chest when Alyssa bared her teeth at her. "He was a drug addict. An _addict_.Not a fucking dealer!"  
Judy stepped back, nose twitched "Woah, easy! The report said-"

"Fuck the report! Do you have any idea how many predators are incarcerated compared to prey? Well, do you?"

Judy swallowed. "A rate of four times more."

"And that's just for the minor offenses! So don't you fucking dare stand there and say how sorry you are! It's dickheads like you who get mammals like him killed on a weekly basis!"

"I am not-"

Alyssa pointed a shaking finger at her. "I know it was you who shot Ben back at Wild Times! He literally just showed up, but that didn't matter, did it? Did it?! All you saw at that moment was a suspicious, potentially dangerous _criminal_."

She expected Judy to shrink back in fear and shame, proving right everything the vixen had just spit at her. Instead, her large eyes hardened, her shoulders squared, and she balled her fists. "That. Was. An. _Accident_." She hissed. "I regret it every single cotton-picking day, but it was accident. And prey megafauna such as rhinos and buffalos are six times more likely to be incarcerated than beavers and rabbits."

Alyssa blinked. "What?"

"You heard me. Prey can have it just as bad. Ever since Bellwether made it public that the elephant that attacked Bogo was on Musth, hate crimes against elephants have tripled in this month alone. I almost didn't make it into the police academy because everyone thought a cute little bunny rabbit wouldn't make it as an officer. This isn't just about you!"

She turned on her heel and strode down the narrow hallway to the door. She knocked, and Bogo opened the door. Words were exchanged, words Alyssa was too busy fuming to listen to.

"She has a point."

Alyssa flinched away from Nick, who had just materialized on the wall beside her. "Christ on a bike! Would it kill you announce your presence before being a smartarse?"

Nick didn't look very smug as he regarded her. "Apologies. I trained for my entire adolescence to go unnoticed, and I can't just switch it off. And I wasn't being smart. What you said to her, that wasn't fair."

"Are you taking the piss? She wrote you off as a menace the second she saw you."

"And I did exactly the same thing to her." Nick said, watching Judy as she spoke to her superior. "If I hadn't totally insulted her species, she might not have fined me two hundred and fifty dollars. You know, I think a lot of the grief she gave me might have been avoided if I hadn't been such a dickhead myself."

Alyssa scoffed. "About a year ago, I was sent to investigate a crime boss in Liondon, and the mission almost got blown because two police officers saw me driving through a prey neighborhood and tried to arrest me. I had to break both their noses to get away."

"Ok, yeah, that's rough." Nick said sympathetically.

"It just pisses me off when mammals like her act like they get it when they obviously don't." Alyssa said, as Judy finished what she was saying and Bogo closed the door again. "You heard her. She acted all sympathetic and then called him a drug dealer."

Nick sighed heavily. "You know, you and I aren't so different. I automatically see the worst in people on the other side, too."

"So?"

"Sooooo…" Nick said, his gaze turning stern. "You're getting way too eager to see the worst in Carrots, and I don't like it. I mean it, Snowflake. Cut her some slack or you and I are going to have a problem."

Alyssa looked away, saying nothing more. For the sake of not causing trouble when they were so close to the end, she wouldn't say anything to the rabbit at all.

Judy walked out the hallway and stopped before Alyssa.  
"I don't know if Nick has already mentioned this to you, but I was just telling Bogo that McHorn is stable. Not that you would have any reason to be happy about that."

With that she walked out the lab. Nick followed her, giving Alyssa a rueful look as he left.

Alyssa couldn't bring herself to feel guilty; McHorn reminded her too much of those officers who confronted her in Liondon. Or perhaps Nick was right, and she was trying too hard to see the rhino as the bad guy. To hell with XIBALBA. She needed to get out of this twisted place and go somewhere with fresh air.

And figure out if and how she would kill the sloth responsible for all of this.

She left XIBALBA, eventually finding her way to the ward where Gabe had taken Starlight. She found them in one of the wards, one floor up from where Maria Manchas and the three wolves were being held prisoner. Starlight was lying in one of the beds, stirring but not quite waking up, as her husband sat vigil in a spindly chair beside her.

"Gabe." Alyssa said wearily. The lean fluorescent lights were making her eyes feel tired as they fell upon the polar bear cub napping on another bed. "What's he doing here?"

"He heard that Starlight was being brainwashed." Gabe smiled gently. "He wanted to be here when she woke up so he could tell her he's not mad at her for kidnapping him."

Alyssa couldn't help but smile herself. "I guess watching too many cartoons isn't a bad thing after all. How is she?"

Gabe had a paw curled around Starlight's. "The drug's wearing off. She'll be waking up soon."

"Any idea if the antidote worked yet?" Alyssa asked, eyeing the straps binding Starlight to the bed.

Gabe exhaled audibly. "Too soon to tell. How's it going with the good doctor?"

"Not good. He's a stubborn old git. Jack's still working on him, but I don't think it's going to work."

Gabe stared at his wife. "If he refuses to talk, then he's useless to us."

Alyssa chewed the inside of her cheek. "I agree. But so long as he's the smartest mammal in the world, they'll need him. They'll put him in a cushy new lab, under twenty-four-hour supervision, so he can go on developing new chemical weapons that will help them maintain their status as the sole true superpower."

_While Cheryl and those other victims go on to take the full blame for this mess._She thought to herself with a sneer.

Alyssa closed the door behind her and sat on a bed near Gabe and Starlight. "It's so unfair."

Gabe looked at her for the first time. "'Course, it's unfair. Too often abusers are insufficiently punished for the damage they do." He paused. "Something Elba told me a while back."

"The Commissioner?"

"Yeah. He'd probably say something like that if he was here, even back in Roarcadia. He's been on our side a long, long time."

Alyssa shrugged. "Or maybe he just wanted to feel morally righteous."

"Watch your mouth, Alyssa. He's done more for us predators than you'll ever know." Gabe didn't snarl, but his exposed teeth provided more than enough warning.

Alyssa held her paws up. "Okay, I'll take your word for it. But words of wisdom aren't going to put Slothfeld in the morgue."

"You're right." Gabe said quietly, looking back at Starlight. "What's the ETA on the ZBI chopper?"

"Twenty-seven minutes."

Gabe's expression darkened. "That's how long we have to do something about this."

"That's _if_ we're going to do something about this." Alyssa added, feeling a twinge of fear at the thought of what ZI6 might do to her if she went through with killing the sloth. Killing Slothfeld could do worse than ruin her whole life; without the evidence in his disk, Zootopia was screwed. But was that city really worth saving? According to Llater's report, a riot had occurred in almost every district since the collar crisis began, partly because of the authorities' failure to capture the Red Queen and free the hostages. But primarily they were rioting because Swinton was refusing to submit to the Red Queen's demands to confess the truth. To many citizens, predator and prey, it was a reasonable request, one for which a well-rehearsed lie could have sufficed. It wasn't like the perpetrators were asking for the release of over two-hundred terrorists or anything like that.

Great, now Alyssa was sympathizing with terrorists. This may very well have been why Cheryl never got in contact with her after she escaped.

"And Jack's watching him. We need to think this through, carefully." She said.

Gabe rubbed his thumb over Starlight's fingers. "They'll be taking Slothfeld and McHorn to the helipad soon. Think about it."

Alyssa sat silently on the bed for a minute or two, staring at a dried brown blood stain on the ward's singular window. The central heating hadn't worked in decades, and the cold steadily ate away at her anger until she found herself wondering if there was another way. Killing Slothfeld wouldn't undo the torment Cheryl had suffered, or prevent Zootopia's destruction.

But there could be another way to attain evidence of Swinton's crimes and render Slothfeld's bold defiance pointless. It would do little more than stab at his ego, but it would be a small victory. Perhaps it may even be enough to make her not want to kill him.

Perhaps.

Around four minutes later, Alyssa stood before the cell that held Maria Manchas, AKA, Subject 0. Higgins, sitting on a chair directly facing all four cell doors, was giving her a look. "Put that stink-eye away, Higgins. I just want to talk to them."

Higgins's gaze turned neutral, but he still didn't take his eyes off her.

If the panther proved uncooperative, she would talk to the wolves next. Any cracks about her gender or promiscuity would be penalized with extreme prejudice.

Alyssa heard a scratching sound coming from inside the cell and looked through the door's window. Maria was standing beside the opposite wall, her arm outstretched toward the exterior window; the glass was covered in crooked white swirls.

Feeling the slightest of chills, Alyssa rapped sharply on the door and immediately received a response.

"I've seen enough to know you can't afford my time, _yutas_."

_Speaking of promiscuity cracks… _"I'm not the ZPD, your ladyship."

Maria hesitated, lowered her arm and walked up to the window. "Alyssa Skyefall. We meet each other at last. Tell me, that's not seriously your last name, is it?"

"Cut the faux-affably-evil crap, Manchas." Alyssa grimaced when the jaguar giggled. "Dare I ask where you hid that scalpel?"

Maria put on her most psychotic innocent look as she hid the scalpel behind her back. "Could you be a dear and keep this to yourself?"

"Nope."

"Damn."

"It's your own fault for being unable to resist the urge to cut something. Is that disk really so important to you?"

"Very." Maria replied in a faux-high pitch. "As much as we want to personally waltz into City Hall and take turns shanking the Queen of Hearts, that isn't going to get rid of her family legacy. We need proof that it's all bullshit." Maria ran a finger down the window glass. "At least, that's what the Red Queen says. Personally, I just wanna kill every last one of those dickheads and get the hell out of dodge, but there's that whole issue with being a loose end to tie up. So, until that's dealt with, Cheryl's my new boss."

_I want to kill a lot of people, too, De Stabbarough. _"So, what happened to all the evidence that wasn't in the disk?"

"Everything that incriminated the Swintons was kept in XIBALBA, which I may remind you, was completely sealed off until about thirty minutes ago." Maria said dryly. "I do remember Slothfeld mentioning some stuff about a buttload of 'sensitive information' recovered from Roarcadia, but we searched the whole facility and never found it. Yep, all the important, irrefutable stuff's in the Vorpal Blade. It's why it's called the Vorpal Blade, duh. Didn't you ever read the poem?"

Alyssa rolled her eyes, partly to hide her disappointment. So much for not needing the sloth. "The Jabberwock is a codename for the fake wolf that's been turning predators savage, and a metaphor for the system that forces us to wear those glorified torture devices. Yeah, pretty much figured it out by now."

Maria pursed her lips. "Are you gonna let me out or not?"

"Yeah, like I can pick a lock without him noticing." Alyssa gestured to the hippo nearby. She may be angry at this screwed up world right now, but she wasn't an idiot.

Maria shrugged. "Never hurts to ask." Then she moved closer to the window. "You could still get us out of here, though. Cheryl told me all about your skills. You could get the keys and get us out, easy-peasy. "

Alyssa shook her head. "Can't do that, Manchas. I saw your handiwork in the lodge. You're a danger to society."

Maria's whole demeanor changed. "_Slothfeld_ is a danger, you self-righteous retard!" She snarled, baring her canines. "The things he did to us! The experiments… the electric shocks… he made Cheryl and Sedor fuck each other for crying out loud!" She struck the door hard enough to split the skin on her knuckles.

Alyssa blinked and stepped back from the door. "He what?"

Maria paused. "Cheryl didn't put that on the IPaw? Why would she keep that from you?"

Alyssa bared her teeth back at her, her anger flaring again. "You're making that up. You're trying to goad me into letting you out. Either that or you imagined it, you crazy bitch."

Maria didn't appear to register that. "What am I saying, of course she would. Who wouldn't want their bestie to find out they're now an unregistered sex offender?"

Alyssa ferally snarled at Maria and turned away. "There's a funny smell in here, Manchas, and it's coming from you. What is it? Oh, yeah. Bullshit!" It had to be bullshit. Slothfeld had nothing to gain from doing something so obscene. Did he?  
Maria sneered through the glass. "The guards and nerds talked about it for days. Thought it would make great porn if they ever got a hold of the video."

_Blam!_

The bullet from Alyssa's gun, punched a frosted hole through the window, passing right over Maria's head and tearing a chunk out of the wall behind her. The jaguar ducked on reflex with a wild growl. When she looked back through the window, Alyssa was still aiming her weapon.

"Shut the hell up, Manchas." She hissed.

Higgins thundered up to her. "Are you out of your goddamned mind, fox?!"

Alyssa holstered her gun. "The name is Skyefall, hippo."

Behind the door, Maria burst out laughing. "Losing your grip, Alice? Newsflash, sweetheart, we're all mad here! If you won't help us, on your pretty white head be it! Maybe asking Slothfeld himself will make you come to your senses!"

"Shut it, you!" Higgins snapped at her. When he looked back at Skyefall, he saw that the vixen had gone.

When she reached the helipad that sat adjacent to the facility, Alyssa pressed her forearm into the cold brick wall and then pressed her forehead into her forearm. She felt tense all over. Slothfeld and his escort would be here soon. Soon after that the ZBI helicopter would arrive to pick him up, and then that would be it. He would beyond her reach.

Alyssa lifted her head from her arm. Maybe it was for the best. Out of sight, out of mind, as they say. But a larger part of her was baying for blood.

She hated Slothfeld. She hated that sloth more than anything else in her entire life. She wanted to walk up to him, pull out her pistol, press it to his throat, pull the trigger, and step back so she could get a full view of him drowning in his own blood. But the fate of Zootopia was on the line here. She just had to hold out until Slothfeld coughed up the decryption key for that disk. And then what?

Her ear flicked at the scraping of a rusted metal door opening. She didn't look up, but she caught the scent of a cheetah which grew stronger as he approached her, eventually stopping.

"Um, Alyssa? Are you doing okay?"

"I'm fine." Alyssa said bluntly.

Benjamin huffed. "That's what they all say."

Alyssa gritted her teeth beneath her forearm. "Do you want something, Ben?"

"Just thought you should know that they're bringing Dr. Slothfeld up. They didn't get anywhere with him, unfortunately."

"Of course, they didn't."

"… Your mission hasn't really gone to plan, has it? I'm sorry."

"Gone to plan? Two years I spent searching for Cheryl. Then I found out that not only had she been tortured for nearly eighteen months, but she'd come out of it a complete psycho, lobotomized a lemming with cocktail sticks, butchered hell knows how many other mammals, and turned herself into a full-blown terrorist. Damn right it hasn't really gone to plan."

Benjamin was quiet for a moment. "I super-understated that, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you did." Alyssa said, before she realized that something was odd about his tone. "You don't seem that bothered that your hometown's pretty much screwed by this point."

"Because it's not over yet." Benjamin said, with an air of determination that made Alyssa turn around in curiosity. "There's other evidence, stuff that would put Swinton and her supporters away for life. I told Bogo about it, and he's going to tell the ZBI when they get here."

Alyssa felt her ears go completely erect. "You're winding me up."  
"Nope. There's whole load of stuff under the old church in Swinetown that has a load of dirt on Theodore Swinton's activities in Roarcadia. Some of it's pretty twisted, and will totally ruin the mayor's life if it gets out."

Alyssa's heart picked up the pace. "What sort of stuff are we talking about here?"

"The reactor only partly melted, and it wasn't even Liberum's fault. They maintained their cover by pumping some of the survivors with chemo drugs to make it look like they had radiation poisoning, and that's not the worst of it… crud, you're going to think I'm a loon."

Alyssa growled under her breath. "Tell me, Ben."

Benjamin blinked, but obliged. "Illegal experiments. Not like what Slothfeld was doing here. Genetic stuff. Theodore had this crazy idea to harness the predators' power into creating his own super-predators, but it went wrong. Some of them escaped, and the reactor's cooling system got damaged in the attempt to recapture one of them."

Alyssa realized she was gaping and shut her mouth. "Sorry, he tried to harness our 'power?'"

"I said it sounds loony. One of them is still alive. Theodore and Slothfeld brought it here, but the creature broke out along with the Twilight test subjects and it's been living on the other side of Founder's Mountain ever since. It killed Cunninghorn and bit-" Benjamin stopped, his eyes becoming very big, and he turned away while covering his mouth like he was going to be sick.

Alyssa rubbed her scalp, remembering seeing Bogo cleaning and dressing a fresh, bloody bite wound on his forearm. "It bit Bogo on the arm, didn't it?"

Benjamin didn't answer.

"Ben? Ben!" She snapped sharply, loudly, bringing him back to his senses. "Did it bite Bogo?"

The cheetah nodded. "It's got shrew DNA, so its saliva can cause paralysis. Bogo's going to warn the ZBI about that, too."

"And all this is information is hidden underneath this creature's lair?" Alyssa asked slowly.

"Yep." Benjamin smiled in that way that didn't seem entirely genuine and bent forward. "So don't worry about it. We've got tons of time to find that stuff and pass it on to Cheryl so she won't destroy Zootopia. Mission still accomplished, right Alyssa?"

Before Alyssa could answer, in walked Jack, Judy and Nick, the first rabbit escorting a sullen Slothfeld at gunpoint. Judy scowled when she saw Alyssa; Nick frowned when he saw Benjamin.

"Uh, hi." He said, tentatively raising his paw. "Again."

"Hi." Benjamin said, looking just as awkward. "Again."

"Ok, uh, Capt. Buffalo Butt's getting McHorn ready for his flight back to the city. They'll get here as soon as they can."  
"How is he?" Benjamin asked.  
"Doing surprisingly ok." Nick said. "The Swinton Regime was right about one thing. All stereotypes all come from some element of truth."

Alyssa crossed her arms. "Like how all vixens are slags?"

"Like how most rhinos are hard to kill." Nick didn't miss a beat. "And apparently some secret agents are confrontational radicals."

When Judy approached, Alyssa grimaced and turned back to the wall. She didn't want to hear any more superficial sympathies from her.

"Skyefall, are you ok?"

_Like that_.

"What do you think?" Alyssa growled.

"Hopps, she's been hit with some hard truths about her friend." Jack said. "Best you give her some space."

Alyssa whirled round, focusing her fury at Judy in particular. "Yeah, 'coz some space is all I need, right? It's not like us chompers have enough feelings to grieve properly, right? I know what you think about us! A bunch of over-empowered killers… bunch of good for nothing criminals… bet the brainwashing collar would pretty appealing to your redneck, grey trash family, wouldn't it?"

"We don't think that at all!" Judy pleaded. "We've never condoned overriding free will! Ever!"

"But you condoned daily electroshock therapy and fox-specific pepper spray, right?"

Alyssa heard a cough and turned her head. Slothfeld, who didn't seem to be acknowledging the gun Jack was keeping on him, sneered bitterly. "I must say, blatantly siding with the terrorists isn't helping your case."

Jack jabbed him with his pistol. "Don't rile her up."

Slothfeld raised a bushy black eyebrow at him. "Rile her up? An interesting choice of words."

Alyssa bared her teeth at the sloth. Nick held an arm in front of her, and Benjamin held her shoulder for good measure. "Ignore him. He's trying to turn us against each other so he can-"

"The hippopotamus told us all about your little episode outside the cells." Slothfeld continued to sneer. "He said you were clearly unstable and to be watched carefully. It's not surprising, really. Radames and Valentino made a poor show of playing the victims as well."

"Jack, shut him u-up." Nick partly-sang through gritted teeth. Alyssa barely heard him through the hot blood thundering in her ears.

"Or perhaps," Slothfeld said as he backed away, the barrel of Jack's gun following him as he went. "They've come to enjoy having power over others. I thought they looked like they enjoyed that particular experiment…"

Alyssa didn't know how she got past Nick and Benjamin, but the next thing she knew she was barging her way past Jack and grabbing Slothfeld by his unwashed shirt.

"Particular experiment?! It's true?! I'LL _KILL_ YOU!"

She slammed the larger mammal against the nearest solid mass, Benjamin's gut, and pressed her gun to his throat.


	46. Jack VI

Jack had his gun on her in an instant. "Alyssa, let him go!"

Judy had her gun on Alyssa too. "Skyefall, put down that gun!"

The unarmed Nick held up both paws instead. "Come on, everyone, can't we discuss this over some expired coffee?"

"Shut up, Wilde!" Alyssa fired back at him. "Everyone just shut up! "She turned her wrathful glare back to Slothfeld with her gun pressed against his windpipe. "Tell me, doc! Why did you do it?! Why did you force them to screw each other?!"

Slothfeld regarded her like he might have regarded an uninitiated university student. "Look, it was part of the project. We needed to determine if the new collar could be used for population contro-"

"Wait, you got her pregnant?!"

"Of course not, they both had adequate protection!"

Jack kept his finger off the trigger, concerned that the adrenaline rushing through him may cause an unfortunate twitch. It wasn't just Slothfeld's life on the line, but Benjamin's too. The cheetah was frozen stiff, too terrified to move from behind the sloth.

Jack had known this would happen. This was his fault. He should have checked if the page he'd burned was the only record of the experiment. Miss Morton would be outraged by his stupidity.

"Remember our mission." Jack pressed. "We have our orders. Bring the sloth back alive."

"It's the disk our superiors really care about." Alyssa said. "Dr. Slothfeld's just a bonus."

She was going to kill him, murder him in ice cold blood, and all the while Jack's mind kept flashing back to their first couple of weeks working together; saving each other's lives, paving the way each time one of them hit a dead end, and that night in the Palm Hotel…

Alyssa was going to kill Slothfeld, and Jack didn't want to have to kill her to prevent that. "Alyssa, think about what you're doing! Cheryl is hours away from commencing another city-wide attack, and you're about to murder the only mammal who can-"

"There's more evidence, Jack! A shitload of it under a church in Swinetown! We don't need him anymore!"

"Oops." Benjamin murmured.

"Well, we do seem to be at an impasse." Slothfeld said. "Shoot me if you wish, but my throat happens to be right in front of this corpulent feline's stomach. Hopefully the ZBI gets here before he exsanguinates, but I wouldn't count on it."

Alyssa bared her teeth slightly, then looked up at Benjamin. "Move it, kid." Benjamin didn't move. "Nick, make him fucking move!"

Nick inched closer to the cheetah. "Benji, you gotta move, buddy."

"Can't move until I'm sure I won't pass out or puke or- or puke-out." Benjamin said through clenched teeth and sharp breaths. "Cunninghorn kicked me in the ribs… and she just hit them with the physical embodiment of pure evil."

Slothfeld grumbled in Boarlish.

"For fuck's sake." Alyssa pulled him away, keeping her gun on his neck. "There. Your ribs are safe."

"Will someone just shoot her already so we can move this palaver along?" Slothfeld asked. Judy's arms twitched, and her gun started to shake.

_So that's his game_, Jack thought.

Benjamin put a paw over the affected area. "_Hooo_, that's betterrrhat're you doing, Officer Hopps?"

Jack's eyes shifted to put Judy in his sight- and saw that Judy had lowered her gun. _What're you doing, Hopps?_

"I know what you're trying to do, Slothfeld." She said. "But I won't do it. Alyssa, please, you need to think this through."

"I've thought this through plenty." Alyssa sneered.

"Have you? Have you really? You're becoming the very thing we were taught to fear."

"Let me guess, a savage?"

"… Yes."

Alyssa's ear twitched.

"Carrots…" Nick said warningly.

Judy put her paws on her hips. "Slothfeld may be a monster who deserves death on some level, but who's to say you'll stop here? Who will be next? A rookie police officer succumbing to peer pressure? A frail old woman with racist, outdated views? A fellow predator who doesn't share your beliefs?"

Alyssa frowned at that last one. "What?"

The nervous look Nick gave Judy gave way to understanding. "You don't speak for the rest of us, and for the record, neither does Cheryl. Zootopia- no, the whole world needs to change, but the two of you are going about this all wrong."

Alyssa growled. "Don't get all holy on me, Nick! Unlike your dad, you never even tried to make a change!"

Nick's paws slowly closed into fists. "Yeah. I didn't. I'm a coward, probably always will be. But right now, you are bona fide proof that there are worse things than being a coward."

"I AM NOT THE BAD GUY, HERE!" Alyssa shrieked, making even Slothfeld wince. "It's him! Him and Swinton and all those other bastards who support this fucked-to-shit system! They get let off all the time for the evilest shit and I'm sick of it!"

"But that's the thing, Alyssa!" Jack insisted. "It won't just be the bigots who suffer if Cheryl goes through with this. The predators will suffer too, in more ways than one. And you can't possibly guarantee that Cheryl will accept the information under the church."

"She made it pretty clear she wants the information on the data disk." Judy added. "The Vorpal Blade, remember?"

Alyssa chewed her lip. "But she…"

"Said she'll call it off if she gets _exactly_ what she wants." Judy said. "And Cheryl is a mammal of her word, isn't she?"

"… Still… "

Jack took a small step forward. "Alyssa, let him go. If you're wrong and Cheryl doesn't accept anything other than the disk, this terrorist attack could hurt thousands. We cannot take that chance."

She still didn't take the gun away from Slothfeld's throat, but now there were tears in her light blue eyes. "This is so unfair."

"I know it's unfair."

Jack's ears twitched at the unfamiliar voice. He and the others turned, expecting to see Maria Manchas or someone else. Instead they saw Starlight Foxtrot standing in the rusted doorway. Gabriel stood slightly behind her, holding Morris's little paw in his. Her untidy, unclean ponytail had been straightened into something more presentable, and her eyes no longer had that harsh shine of ferocity.

Those sane blue eyes were on Alyssa and Slothfeld right now.

"It's very unfair. It's so unfair the mere thought of it is driving you crazy. But it's also unfair that Cheryl went to so much trouble to keep you from finding out what Slothfeld did to her, so you wouldn't murder him and ruin your whole life, just so you could ruin your life anyway."

"What're you doing here, Starlight?" Alyssa asked.

"I was on my way down here to kill him myself." Starlight glanced at Slothfeld, her grip tight around the knife she held in her gloved paw. Jack almost changed his aim to when she added, "But I heard most of what you lot said, and Officer Hopps is right. Shooting Slothfeld in cold blood is just the start. I've seen tons of mammals go down this road, predator and prey, and that road leads to nothing but chaos and death. Skyefall, you can still do the right thing, here. Let this one go."

At long last, Alyssa slowly lowered her weapon and returned it to its holster. Jack exhaled, expelling the tension from his chest, stepped forward and coaxed her paw of Slothfeld's shirt. She remained where she was, eyes staring blankly across the helipad square, as Jack moved the sloth to the wall.

"Don't speak to her again. Ever." He snarled under his breath.

Slothfeld smirked. "You're such a shameless hypocrite. You talk about doing the right thing, and yet you couldn't pull the trigger to save your country. What does one promiscuous vixen compare to thousands of civilians?"

Jack held the disk before Slothfeld's face once more. "If you really care about killing a few to save a lot, tell us how to decrypt this thing."

Slothfeld shook his head. "I never said I cared. The great work on that disk is mine, and mine alone. I could give it up, but for what? A city of dullards?"

Jack scoffed. "Dear lord, you're insufferable."

Slothfeld casually raised his left hand toward the disk. "Face the facts, Agent Savage. You need me just as much as I need my work."

Before Jack could move the disk out of Slothfeld's reach the doctor's hand suddenly fell back and slammed against the window. Slothfeld blinked, as if surprised by his own sudden action. Together they turned their heads to get a good look at the knife pinning the hand to the rotted wood of the frame behind him.

"Holy-" Judy clapped a paw over her gaping mouth as she, Alyssa, Nick and Benjamin turned to stare at Starlight and her outstretched arm. Gabe, presumably having foreseen his wife's intent, was covering Morris's eyes while his own shone with affection and fulfilment.

"How about you don't talk at all?" Starlight took out another knife, spun it so she was holding the blade and reached over her shoulder so Gabe could take it from her. "There. That's the only weapon I have left. Don't believe me, search me."

Gabe pocketed the knife and sighed in content. "I love you."

Slothfeld stammered indiscernibly under his breath, eyes wide with shock as Jack coaxed the knife out the wall while keeping it in the flesh of the sloth's hand.

"You've tormented those predators for over a year, yet you can't take one teensy little knife though the palm? Talk about shameless hypocrisy."

"Go jump in a brazen bull." Slothfeld growled through the pain.

"And on that note…" Nick said loudly, drawing everyone's attention away from the sloth. "Since this jerk is obviously trying to turn us against each other, perhaps it would be best if we don't tell Captain Buffalo Butt and his cohorts about what happened? Just for the time being?"

He looked hopefully at Judy, who didn't appear to agree, at least until she sighed and nodded. "For the time being." She emphasized. Her radio crackled and she stepped away from the group to answer it.

For once, Slothfeld cooperated completely by holding his arm still while Jack assessed the injury. Diagnosis: Slothfeld would live, so long as the knife stayed where it was. "Mossberg, there are still several predators out there who would like to take a stab at killing Slothfeld themselves. Could you perhaps take Alyssa to secure the area?"

Gabe nodded. "Starlight, you want to come with?"

Starlight gently nudged Morris over to Nick and Judy. "Morris, could you stay with these nice mammals while we go do a little recon?"

Morris nodded with a smile. "Sure! I know Nick! He built the big secret amoozmint park by the river!"

Jack blinked, then remembered that the cub was not yet five. "Then can I go see mama?" Morris asked.

Nick bent down and gave the cub a sad smile. "Sure, kid. You'll get to see your mom, soon."

Gabe frowned and leaned toward his wife's ear. "Isn't she still in the hospital under pol-"

Starlight jabbed him with her elbow. "Shut up!"

Judy returned to the group, radio in paw, her expression worried. "Er, change of plans, guys. McHorn won't be joining us."

Benjamin gasped sharply, his face turning a shade lighter.

"No, no!" Judy backpedaled, looking mortified. "That was Bogo just now. Turns out McHorn isn't in any condition for being moved long distances, so we'll just have to have the Feds come to him. He's ordered me to brief to them, and in the meantime, Clawhauser, he wants you to come back. Room 108."

Benjamin wilted with relief. "Oh good. For the record, very bad choice of words!"

Gabe threw his arms in the air. "That's it, I'm done. Let's get out of here before I kill that smug little fucker myself."

"Language!" Judy snapped, beating Morris to the punch.

Starlight slowly approached Alyssa and put her paws on the vixen's shoulders. "Come with us. You too, Ben." She leaned into Alyssa's ear and spoke quietly. "Once he's out of your sight you'll feel better."

Alyssa gave no reaction other than allowing Starlight to escort her from the helipad, while Judy cheerfully introduced herself to Morris. The little cub looked understandably apprehensive, hiding behind Nick as he started at the rabbit officer, and Judy's face fell slightly. As he watched Judy offer her paw nevertheless, Jack found himself wishing he could go after Alyssa. She and he were not so different. He had felt the same acrimony towards a flawed system when he was younger, even before the isolation he'd faced in the ZIA before he'd proved himself to Miss Morton. When his so-called parents had ignored him one time too many, he'd made the mistake of leaving to take his chances on the streets. It had seemed like a good idea at the time… until the anger wore off.

Morris muttered a meek, "Hi." and accepted Judy's paw.

Her smile grew stronger. "Don't worry, Morris. We'll get you to your mommy as soon as possible."

Morris looked fretfully at the sky. "Do we have to take the hellycopta?"

"What's wrong? Don't you like a little adventure?"

Morris pouted. "I don't like heights."

"Ah." Judy playfully smacked her forehead. "Well, I'm sure there's a car around here we can use."

Gabe pulled his hoodie back over his head. "Looks like he's in good hands all right. I'm going to catch up with my wife."

"Hey." Nick said sharply when Gabe made to leave, making him stop and look at him. "You didn't happen to have a chat with Alyssa prior to our meet-up, did you?"

Gabe scowled and looked away, even as Jack came to the same conclusion himself. "What are you suggesting?"

"Nothing at all." Nick said, turning his body so he could use the stink-eye properly. "It's just that if I was complicit in morally corrupting a highly-trained ZI6 agent, who just so happens to be their second ever fox agent, I would use this time to think about what I'd done. Just saying."

Gabe's hackles raised, and for a moment Jack thought he was going to have another confrontation on his paws. Then his shoulders slumped, and he muttered "fuck" under his breath.

The curse was followed by a rock song coming from his pants, and distant rhythmic thumping of an approaching helicopter. "Now what?" He grumbled as he picked up his phone. His angry look slackened when he saw who it was. "Elba? What's up?" As he listened, his anger switched to alarm. "Emergency Lockdown?! How did she pull that off? You said the City Hall security system was hackproof!" Jack and the others listened with bated breath. "Swinton actually said that? That stupid… wait, _what_?!" He looked up sharply and locked eyes with Jack, as the sound of the helicopter filled their ears. "God damn that pig! Look, the Feds will be here soon so hang in there! And don't worry about Starlight, I'll let her know what's going on! Don't do anything stupid, just hide!" He hung up. "Guys, we have got a very serious problem!"

"Tell that to the Feds!" Nick pointed up at the sky.

The helicopter emerged at that very moment, swinging over the asylum before hovering over the helipad. It was just the one, but reinforcements would arrive at the asylum's entrance soon. Judy waved her arms and shouted, "Over here!" while Nick kept his arms down and looked like he wanted to cut and run. It was unlikely that there'd be enough room for everyone inside the chopper, but that didn't matter; they were only here for Slothfeld, and the others would be going back to Zootopia on the road.

"Cheryl cut the deadline in half!" Gabe shouted over the noise, staring at the helicopter with wide, terrified eyes.

"She did _what_?"

"We've only got five hours now! I have to go and warn Starlight!"

_FSHHHHHH…_

A sudden flash of light and smoke, came from the corner of the roof, the faint blur of the missile streaked across the night sky, punching through the hull of the chopper and bursting within…

_BOOM!_

Morris screamed, the sound almost lost in the explosion. Nick swore at the top of his lungs. The helicopter made a crackling, groaning sound as it spun helplessly toward them, fire blazing from what remained of the cockpit, right toward the stunned fox and rabbit. Jack instinctively reached out to them, his other paw losing its hold on Slothfeld's injured hand, but Judy was already pulling Nick and Morris out of harm's way, the group running clear to the other side of the helipad as it crashed right into the middle of the big painted H. Fiery fragments of metal scattered across the cracked stone floor like embers as the forsaken helicopter collided with the wall of the asylum and broke through, the jagged rotary blades the only thing stopping it from punching through all the way.

Gabe gave a shout, asking where the hell Slothfeld was.

Searching through the haze and flames, Jack saw the sloth running as fast as he could, holding his injured hand as he opened an emergency trapdoor and disappeared down the ladder.

The rabbit punched the ground, knowing instantly who had done this. It was so obvious.

An armored vehicle had thwarted Ramses once, and it wouldn't do so a second time.


	47. Judy VI - Starlight I

Morris cried in fright when Judy covered his eyes before he could get a good look at the helicopter's interior. "Don't look, sweetie." She urged as she pulled the cub toward the exit. She had already seen what was left of the ZBI officers who had been inside the ill-fated vehicle when the missile hit, and it gave her chills in spite of the heat.

"Savage, what the hell are you doing?" Nick hollered; Jack had hopped up to grab one of the upper window frames. The agent didn't answer in favor of repeating the action, ascending the wall floor by floor he was higher than the contorted rotors of the helicopter. Then he leapt over the flames and made a flawless landing on the concrete on the other side of the inferno. Judy had to look under the raised tail to see him. Jack ran to the emergency metal trapdoor, but was unable to open it; either it was too heavy for a rabbit or-

_"Slothfeld's locked it from the other side!" _Jack raged from Judy's radio.

Judy heard mammals running up from behind and spun round, weapon raised.

"Skyefall!" She gasped and quickly lowered her weapon as Starlight and Benjamin also came running, stopping to stare in horror when they saw the chopper.

"What the hell happened here?!" Alyssa demanded. "Where the fuck is Slothfeld?!"

"He got away!" Nick said. "As for the chopper, blame Swinton's little helper!"

"Son of a bitch." Alyssa spotted Jack beside the trapdoor, then whirled on Starlight. "Where does that trapdoor go?"

"No idea." Starlight said. Before Alyssa could flip out completely she added, "But I know there's another hatch that I _think_ leads to the same place that one does."

Alyssa grabbed the front of Starlight's sweater. "_Where?_"

"Not sure, my memory's a bit spotty since I came out of Twilight." Starlight paused. "I remember white walls. I think it's in XIBALBA somewhere. And take your paws off me."

Alyssa let go, muttering a brief apology and took off, gun in paw.

Judy felt another cold stab of dread and went to pursue. Gabe grabbed her arm, stopping her. "Let me go, she's gonna kill him!"  
"Forget him!" Gabe snapped. "The mood Cheryl's in right now, she probably doesn't care about the disk anymore!"

Judy stopped struggling. "What do you mean?"

"You know that sick experiment Alyssa nearly killed Slothfeld over? That stupid bitch Swinton thought it'd be a good idea to mock Cheryl about it. Now she's gone and taken City Hall hostage."

"Oh shit." Nick moaned and started pacing. "Shit, shit, shit."

"Nick?" Benjamin asked.

"I know people. I know how they act, how they'll react." Nick breathed. "I've seen what rape does to people. Cheryl's been acting all normal despite being in Twilight because it typically takes a lot to get under her skin. But Swinton just hit her in a real sore spot… this is bad. Really bad."

"Just like Sedor. When he found out Slothfeld had his godson, he completely lost control." Starlight put her paws on her hips and exhaled heavily. "Yep, this is bad."

That settled it. Judy wrenched her arm free of Gabe's paw and, barely noticing Nick yelling at her to wait up, tried again to go after Alyssa.

Jack dropped down right in their path, bringing them to a dead halt. "There's no getting that hatch open."

"Jack, Alyssa's…"

"I heard. I'm going after her."

"Let me come with you!"

Jack grabbed her shoulder. "No! There are mammals here you need to protect!"

Judy wanted to protest, but then she remembered the bullet that had pierced Honey's spine much like that missile had pierced helicopter's belly. If that awful ram set his sights on Nick or anyone else…

"Ok. I'll find Bogo and then we'll find a car or something."

Jack released her. "Good, you do that. Don't wait for the ZBI to get here, Ramses may find you before they do."

Judy nodded grimly. "I won't wait. I've seen what he's capable of."

She looked at Gabe, and like her she could see he was thinking hard about what to do next. There was still an enormous electrified blockade on the bridge, which would provide a minor obstacle for evacuating a three-thousand-pound wounded rhino. They didn't have the ammo to take on Ramses and any other threats that may show up, or the supplies to travel the long way around through the forest. They also had no way of knowing when, or even if, backup was coming.

And considering that the Swinton family had managed to get their hooves in a lot of fat pies over the generations, who's to say that the ZBI were really here to save the day?

The thought made her feel very uneasy as they strode through the hallway toward the room where McHorn was being kept, and the alternative was not much better. If the ZBI was really coming here to help, it meant that Swinton was no longer able to keep a lid on what really happened to those savage predators, and her downfall was only a matter of time. She couldn't imagine the pressure the mayor was under, or what would happen once she ran out of things to lose.

Then there was, of course, Doug Ramses to worry about. They were incredibly lucky that he hadn't turned that anti-tank weapon on them back at the helipad, but on the other hand that meant he was after the same thing they were. They could only hope that the head start Alyssa had would be enough.

Judy's ear swiveled toward the window they were passing at that moment. "Uh, how many helicopters were the ZBI bringing here?"  
Gabe and the others looked at her quizzically. "Just the one. It was all they could spare, according to Llater."

"Then who's flying that other one?"

"What other one?"

Starlight's ear twitched. "Wait a second, I hear it too."

She, Judy and Gabe strode to the window and looked through the glass; they couldn't see the helicopter, but he could hear it. "Hopps, pass the radio."

On the radio, Jack confirmed that he had seen the helicopter, which was unmarked and currently circling the asylum, and most unnerving of all was a model built for combat. He'd already asked Llater about it, but he didn't know who was flying the darn thing either.

_"There is some good news, though. I found Ramses's mode of transportation, in the front courtyard right outside this window. Execram 163Z, max speed one-hundred and fifteen mph, cruise speed ninety-five. No wonder he beat the ZBI here."_

"That model's a two-seater, right?" Gabe said. "If you're too busy, Starlight could fly one or two of us back. That is, assuming we can't get our paws on that one flying around out there."

Judy cocked her head. "Please don't take this the wrong way, but how does she know how to fly an attack helicopter when she's never joined the military?"

Gabe smirked with pride. "That's for us to know and you to find out."

Starlight smacked his arm. "Don't tempt her, she's a cop!"

Judy frowned, but not for the reason they expected.

"It's landed." Everyone looked at her. "The helicopter's landed. I heard it."

_"She's right."_ Jack said through the radio. _"Mammals are disembarking. Mercenaries by the look of them… oh drat."_

"What now?"

_"I recognize them. It's those thugs from the casino. They're the ones who collared all those mammals!"_

Starlight held up the pistol Gabe had lent her. "Well, this is a madhouse. We'll make it live up to its name."

* * *

XIBALBA, the Place of Fear, a place where cruel lords humiliated visitors before sending them to die in insidious trap rooms. An apropos name for Dr. Daniel Slothfeld's glorified playground.

Pistol in paw, Starlight followed the squad of four mercs at a distance, sticking to the shadows and behind the corners, as they descended into the underground area. They split into pairs midway through the white hallway to search the cable car platform and the laboratories. Starlight supposed she should be relieved that they'd moved Maria Manchas from the cage to one of the cells, even if the melanistic jaguar was said to be holding quite the grudge.

Starlight hid inside the elevator and tapped her headset. "Gabe, what's your situation?"

_"Three mercs, sweeping the ground floor. I think they're going bottom to top."_

"They're not chasing the civvies, are they?"

_"No, but they're heading for the control room. I might have to take the fuckers out before they see our friends on the cameras."_

"Don't curse needlessly, Gabe. It's unknightly."

Gabe chuckled. _"We've been apart so long I forgot how much Elba rubbed off on you."_

_Elba._ Starlight swallowed, thinking with a pang of the mammal who saved her and protected her, betraying his own kind in the process. She had left to protect him, and even now she could still convince herself that it had been the right thing to do.

But she never should have stayed away.

Starlight listened for footsteps, but they were faint. She couldn't remember how big the labs were, if she had ever set foot in them at all. Coming out of Twilight had fogged up those memories along with those of her time in XIBALBA. She didn't want to return to that place, not if it meant bringing those memories back. She wanted to go back to Elba. She wanted to listen to his Arthurian blather again, she wanted to watch him tell those stories to little Lance, and more than anything she wanted to say she was sorry.

She heard the squad reunite back in the hallway, pulled out a small mirror and poked it around the corner; she saw all four of them, big mammals wearing balaclavas. She counted two big cats, a wolf and a black bear.

Starlight scowled at the reflection as she watched the mercs approach the entrance to XIBALBA. She tried her headset again.

"Alyssa? Can you read me?" There was no answer. Either Alyssa was too far underground, or she was still looking for the hatch. She tried Agent Savage, but all she got was a, _"Not now."_ Never mind, that rabbit could handle himself.

Starlight adjusted her mirror, and to her dismay saw that the emotionally unbalanced vixen had left the partition open.

The bear took point, signaled for the bull to watch their backs, and into XIBALBA they went. Starlight sighed and put away the mirror.

"Gabe, I can't get in touch with Alyssa. I might have to deal with these guys before they get to her or Slothfeld."

Gabe sounded worried when he responded, which never failed to sound endearing to her. _"Don't just go running in there guns-blazing. You've got a keep a cool head about this."_

"Said the kukri to the karambit."

_"Ha, ha, hi-larious."_

"Take care, schmoopsiepoo." Starlight chuckled when he groaned at the corny nickname.

When she entered XIBALBA, the first thing she saw was the big wide window overlooking the testing area, and no sign of the mercenaries.

_Where did they go?_

Starlight sniffed the air, instantly catching the strong scent of the bull. They had come this way obviously, but she had to know if they'd split up again. She kept sniffing, being carefully not to sniff too loudly, but it appeared that for the time being they were sticking together. Starlight followed the scent and turned toward a door. She remembered this door, probably because she had passed through it on a regular basis while under Slothfeld's control. It led to the central hub, which was the easiest way to access the sloth's personal labs, and the main testing area.

Curious, she thought, that they'd go through that door first without splitting up to search the whole area. It was almost as if they knew the layout already.

Starlight reached the central hub, smelling rabbit, fox, and ram along the way, and crouched down and looked through the rail at the lower floor. The bear was watching the entrance as his comrades searched the lab where they had found Slothfeld.

She tried to contact Alyssa again, but didn't get an answer. _Think, Foxtrot, think! Where is that hatch?_

She decided to try the rabbit again. "Savage? Is now a good time?"

_"I suppose."_ Jack replied reluctantly. _"I've found Ramses."_

"What? Where?"

_"We're in the prison area. I think he's after Slothfeld, too. What's the news on those mercenaries?"_

Starlight broke the news to him. "They're in here with us."

_"Darn it."_ Jack muttered.

"I'll do what I can to keep them from finding you."

_"You sure? These mammals aren't messing around."_

Starlight scoffed. "I have done this before, you know."

Her words had a double meaning. While they had been conversing, her attention had become drawn to the other door, the big heavy one that led straight to the main testing area. There was a map on the wall beside it, a simplistic glass panel illustrating the seven different sections of the labyrinth, one central area and six 'houses'.

Starlight felt a smile coming on. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe this was exactly what she needed.

She returned to the first hallway and looked back through the big viewing window. The entire testing area had two exits and looked like a giant rat maze, but the six houses were marked by the colors of their walls, and two of the houses had ceilings.

Starlight felt another pang in her heart when she realized what this place reminded her of. Roarcaria had all sorts of colors when she had lived there with her parents, with countless little streets that were too easy to get lost in. It was a stupid thought, but the little girl in her wished that meltdown had never happened. It may have had a dark side, but so did every other city on the planet. _Damn you, Koobus. You'll do anything to stick it to the mammal._

In any case, this testing area was an environment she was familiar with. Starlight holstered her gun and began stage one of her plan.

By the time the mercs had completed their search of Slothfeld's lab, the vixen was lying in wait within what she had dubbed the Dark House. The name was literal; with painted black walls, a ceiling, and lights that were currently off, the corridors in that place were so dark Starlight had nothing but her vulpine night vision to guide her. There were obstacles here, too, ranging from heavy wooden crates to spike strips to broken glass with dark stains embedded in the walls. _Sick bastards_, Starlight thought.

She kept an ear out for the door, expecting the empty shotgun she'd used to seal the door back to the first hallway to be enough to keep them from taking another route. She had found plenty more weaponry in the Bat and Razor Houses, two other houses which turned out to be combat areas specializing respectively in firearms and paw-to-paw combat, complete with their own armories. At least one thing to thank that piece of shit sloth for, she thought as she finally heard the exit open.

Starlight crouched behind the crate, knife in paw, even though none of the mercs were wearing night vision goggles. Four predators twice or thrice her size was too much, but in this labyrinth they'd almost certainly spread out into more manageable numbers, and then it would only be a question of time before one or two of them entered the Dark House. And then…

Starlight listened and waited, but she couldn't hear their footsteps anymore. So, the mercs had entered stealth mode, too. If they were smart enough to suspect a trap, then they were smart enough to spot her tripwires. Crap. Normally she enjoyed the extra challenge, but not when she had a baby boy to get back to-

She sensed the approaching presence of one of the mercs just in time. _Focus, Foxtrot! _She scolded herself as she poised to ambush him.

With no light or shadow, she had only sound and timing on her side. There was only so much noise the merc could mask, and as he came closer, she could hear the rustle of his clothes. She'd have to be quick about this. They already knew she was here, and stealth kills weren't as quiet or foolproof as they were in the video games.

The merc stepped around the crate, almost immediately sensing Starlight's presence, and Starlight struck, her knife going straight for the windpipe, only to lose the tip of the blade when it hit the metal of the shotgun the wolf threw up to protect himself. Starlight ducked when he swung the shotgun and fired, shredding the wall behind her, then kicked her into that same wall. Starlight felt broken glass skewer her clothes and skin in at least two places, the pain nearly diverting her attention from the wolf as he swerved the shotgun toward her head. The vixen pulled out her pistol and before she knew it she was putting a very loud bullet through his skull.

Starlight was running before he even hit the floor, telling herself that this changed nothing. In this labyrinth it was almost impossible to tell exactly where the gunshot had come from, and the possibility of hiding herself against was almost limitless.

_That was close_, Starlight thought. _Too close. These guys are better than I thought._

Exiting the Dark House, Starlight ripped off her sweater to assess the damage: she counted four holes and four bloodstains, two in the shoulder, one in the side of the torso and one near the armhole. She was lucky she didn't hit the glass with the center of her body, or she might not even still be breathing.

_Yep, Gabe's gonna be pissed._

She stopped briefly to listen, hearing the footsteps of the other three mercs as they raced toward the source of the gunshot.

Starlight allowed herself a smile. One down, three to go, so far, so good. She had plenty of time before the epinephrine wore off.

She was two rights and a left from the Rattling House when she turned a corner and suddenly remembered that she'd left a grenade attached to a tripwire around here. She found the nigh-invisible thread, cleanly cut with a pair of cutters.

This, along with the lack of explosions she'd heard since setting the traps, confirmed something about these mercs; they'd been trained to spot traps such as these in the field. They'd been taught in paw-to-paw combat and at least one of them knew how to fly a military grade helicopter. There was nowhere in this biased society that permitted predators to receive that kind of training… not since the Roarcadia Inclusion Initiative.

Making a note to talk to Honey after this whole mess was over, Starlight continued on, quickly reaching the Rattling House. She instantly felt the chill of the section's refrigeration system; judging from the holes in the ceiling and the labyrinth's blueprint, this section was supposed to simulate all sorts of cold weather. Hail, rain, wind, you name it, the Rattling House would mimic it. The system could only be controlled from a room overlooking the area, but Starlight had other ways of creating diversions.

She passed through the Rattling House until she entered a passageway without a ceiling, at which point she picked up the pace to build momentum so she could scramble up the nine-foot walls of the labyrinth. The wall was seven inches thick, but she had learned to balance on much narrower surfaces. She spotted the shadow of a merc in a passageway close to the Bat House and regarded her knife. The tip had broken off diagonally, and the blade was still long enough to pierce a spine. With that in mind Starlight hopped along the tops of the walls and plummeted down on the bear while his back was to her, the knife plummeting into the side of his neck.

She pulled the knife out so he would die faster and wrapped her paws around his head to cover his mouth, just in case the hole in his trachea didn't quiet him enough. Hot blood soaked her lower legs as she straddled his shoulders. After the merc fell flat on his face and expired, she decided that once she officially took up the mantle of mom, she was going to refrain from undertaking missions that required a lot of killing.

Starlight was not a vixen who did things by half, so she wiped the knife clean on the merc's pants and continued on to the Hot House, the heatstroke-inducing counterpart to the Rattling House. Starlight didn't remember it also being a botanical garden full of fake greenery.

A miniature Nocturnal District, a miniature Tundratown and now a miniature Rainforest. What else was Slothfeld using this place for?

She couldn't see any sign of the remaining two mercs, making it time to create her diversion. She discarded her bloodied sweater first, leaving it on the floor of the humid Hot House before continuing on, passing several more severed tripwires on her way to the Bat House, where she cut off one of her bloody pants and hid it inside the farthest booth of the shooting range.

A shooting range. Another sign that Project Twilight was more than just a violation of mammal rights. _Forget Project Twilight, you're not here to steal intel!_

Starlight hid behind another booth, and it wasn't long before merc number 3 took the bait. Starlight glimpsed his muzzle peeking around the corner of the entrance, nose twitching slightly as it sniffed the blood and other scents that had drawn the big cat. The muzzle retreated suddenly, and Starlight frowned. Of course, he would suspect a trap.

She gave a slight sigh of exasperation, when a flash grenade flew into the room, and turned away and covered her ears. The grenade was loud even through her paws, but she managed not to get disorientated. She lowered her ears and peeked out of the booth. Not just one, but both remaining mercs entered the room, the slightly shorter one taking point with an AK-47. The walls of the booth were plain plastic, useless as cover, but Starlight didn't need cover, not when she had a Plan B up her sleeve.

First, she repeated the mirror trick with her knife, checking where the mercs were going; one of them was checking out the far booth, where she'd planted the reeking piece of pants, and the other was heading in her direction, seeking out the source of the other smell.

Starlight smiled, muttered, "Two can play at that game, boys." and pulled the pin from the grenade she'd retrieved from one of her failed traps.

"Take cover!" One of the mercs roared when he saw the little bomb rolling across the floor, and both felines dived for cover just as it went bang. Starlight was out of cover, gun out, before the smoke had even begun to clear, spotting the body of one merc who had broken his neck when the gun sent him flying, and the shadow of a mercenary hiding behind another booth. Three bullets punched through the plastic but not the bullet resistant vest he was wearing, as Starlight discovered when he returned fire. Starlight dodged the line of bullets and returned fire herself, hitting his unprotected arm just as the gun clicked empty.

"You bitch!" He hollered and kept firing with his remaining arm.

Starlight ran, pursued by a line of bullet holes rending the wall beside her, her eyes focused on her opponent, seeing him suddenly switch her aim to the floor in front of her, intending to riddle her legs with bullets. Starlight leapt, one foot hitting the wall, then the other, just as she'd been self-taught on the streets of Zootopia after leaving Elba's care. She ran four feet across the wall, high above the crippling horde of bullets, and twisted her body to throw her broken knife through the merc's eyeball. She hit the floor at the exact time he did.

"All for you, Lancie." She whispered, rolled her injured shoulder and crossed the floor to retrieve her knife.

Jack Savage spoke through her headset, his usually hardened voice softened with mirth. _"I saw that. Now you're just showing off."_

Alyssa looked up to see the striped rabbit watching her through one of the overlooking windows. "Agent Savage, I never show off."

_"I found the hatch before Ramses did, but Alyssa sealed it on the other side. Now it's a matter of finding a way to force the lock before he does."_

Starlight gestured to the armory of firearms and explosives lining the wall. "Why don't you come down here? I'm sure the Bat House will meet your needs."

_"I'll make sure to have a browse…"_ Jack diverted his eyes to the side. _"Is that a torture chamber?"_

"That's Jaguar House. I'm glad I don't remember being in that place. It's even got its own mini-Tundratown and Rainforest Districts."

Jack put both paws on the glass as his gaze panned the entirety of XIBALBA. _"Wait a minute… this whole place. These sections… Districts… It's like a twisted upgrade of the Police Academy training grounds."_

Starlight nodded, glad to have her feelings validated. "The cheetah kid was right. This is Project Twilight round two. The genetic freakshow was a city-destroying bust, so now the Swintons are trying again with mind control and good old-fashioned combat training."

_"If they're trying to create their own army, it would explain where Sedor's body armor came from."_

"And the serum was created to give a mental kick to keep the predators from acting too much like mindless automatons." Starlight felt anger smolder inside her, making her paws shake. "And he was going to use my baby in his experiments… He forced me to kidnap that little boy… His mother probably has a skull fracture because of me… I should have dragged him into the Jaguar House when I had the chance."

Jack sighed. _"Can we focus on saving the world, please?"_

Somehow Jack's sarcarm cheered her up. "Let me regroup with my husband first. Then we can focus."

_"Fine. Leave Ramses to me. Mossberg will still be upstairs making sure the other terrorists don't track down our civilian friends."_

Now starting to seriously feel the sting of the wounds inflicted by the broken glass, Starlight returned to the merc she'd just killed and started to remove his field med kit. "Tell him mommy's on her way."


End file.
